3 OCTOBER 1987, page 30

No Discernible Pattern In The Carpet

Francis King THE NEW CONFESSIONS by William Boyd Hamish Hamilton, f11.95 F rom the title of this novel, from its prefatory quotation from the private pap- ers of James Boswell......

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Michael Davie IN THE LAND OF OZ by Howard Jacobson Hamish Hamilton, £9.95 A nyone leafing through publishers' catalogues these days can readily identify the books commissioned......