Cover charges

1) In the flap copy of Philip Roth's not-particularly-highly-acclaimed The Humbling (2009), his optimistic editors/publicists have used the adjectives 'shattering', 'terrifying', 'unusual', 'erotic', 'haunting' ... and 'startling'. They note, also, that this is 'Roth's thirtieth book'. Even indifferent readers of Roth will see where I am going with this.

2) The back-cover blurb of Jay McInerney's Model Behaviour begins

'I'm sick of all this pointless glamour,' his glamorous girlfriend said. 'I want a simple life.' If only Connor McNab had listened.

Which is all well and good - except that the hero's name is Connor McKnight. Who's the McNumbnuts in Jay Mc's publicity camp?!

3) Dr Gregory House is well-known for owning lots of sneakers (it's an irony, see: cripple with running-shoe collection?*). More to the point, the rules of product-placement make it pretty hard to miss the fact that they are always Nike sneakers. Only on the cover of series 6 - my copy, anyway - House is quite evidently wearing New Balance. Oops.

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* Also a running gag, come to that.

Grumpy old men have words

On the Moral Brink

Coetzee on Roth,* in the NYRB.

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* but not Brink