11 MAY 2002, page 43

Retreat Into Fame

Penelope Hobhouse RAGE FOR ROCK GARDENING by Nicola Shulman Faber, £9.99, pp. 112, ISBN 1904095216 M ost gardeners know something about Reginald Farrer, the great rock garden......

Not Funny Or Painful Enough

John de Falbe WHO'S SORRY NOW? by Howard Jacobson Cape, £16.99, pp. 326, ISBN 0224062867 A a seasoned reader of books in the bath. I know that if pages start crinkling after 20......

The Perils Of Interference

Hugh Lawson-Tancred NARROW ROADS OF GENE LAND: VOLUME TWO, THE EVOLUTION OF SEX collected papers of W. D. Hamilton OUP, £50, pp. 928, ISBN 0198503369 I f all those who must be......