11 NOVEMBER 1995, Page 34

Sir: You may welcome people telling you — and us

— why they do not like The Spectator but at least they should do it with style and wit, which Edward Pearce singu- larly failed to manage. What did it all mean?

The Spectator succeeds because it is eclectic and entertaining and the New Statesman does not because, as Mr Pearce in fairness to him explains, it is an endless ongoing dialogue which sends us to sleep after paragraph one. However, I am not convinced that maga- zines succeed or fail on the basis of their Arts sections. I know four Spectator readers who, not interested in music, theatre and art, flick over those pages without a glance. Time for another survey?

D Smith

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