Howard Jacobson's Blog, page 19

Those who live by television shall die by television. So that's arrive-derci, David Starkey. I suspect – and hope – that news of his demise is premature. At a time when it's unpardonable to sound elitist or discriminative, we can't afford to lose people who go against the grain. Yes, the Starkey shtick has fallen victim to its own cuteness: all that campery and snootery and retro-tailoring, the rudest man on television blah blah. And cuteness is a fatal flaw in an intellectual. It marks the moment intellect gives way to "personality". But then it's for his "personality" that telly wants him. God forbid we should have to watch someone distinguished for intellect alone.

The one shop not looted in Clapham Junction last week was Waterstone's. A golden opportunity to nick a Harry Potter, or Anthony Giddens' Sociology: A Brief but Critical Introduction, spurned. So that's the end of the argument that looters were protesting against the high cost of acquiring an education.

Much educated discussion at the moment about the composition of this year's Man Booker longlist.

Been for two X-rays this month. I preferred the first.

Question: What do Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks have in common? Answer: Neither appears to have gone to university.