Bigger than Mucca and Macca
That young scamp Idle Tom the Publisher had been mischief-making again. And purely for my own benefit.
Or so he claimed.
"Got a good one just come in!" he said. "National newspaper coverage for The Well-Tempered Clavier!A big, prestigious Sunday newspaper! In fact - the more I think about it, the better it looks!"
"Hmm," I said. Ever heard about what you do with Greeks bearing gifts?
"Yeah!" said the Idle Tom. "This one sounds like a great opportunity! It’s the Observer! They want you to do up a piece!"
"Okkk," I said. "So what’s the catch?"
"Catch? No, no, no! There’s no catch, no catch at all! They just called me up and they want you to do an interview with them - you know the sort of thing -"
"Indeed I do, Tommy. So what’s the story on?"
"Just, ummm, just about your ex-wife really. No need for any unpleasantness, but if you could just give them a warts and all account of your life with Anna -"
"And tell ‘em just exactly how thrilled I am that Amazon’s Perfect Partner for The Well-Tempered Clavier is none other than my ex-wife’s novel?"
"Yeah! You got it! Just sock it to ‘em! Just tell it like it is!"
"What’s it for? Their Ex-Files section in the Woman magazine?"
"It’s going to be bigger than Mucca versus Macca!"
"Well, Tommy, you know that I’m game for almost anything, but I’m not sure this one’s for me -"
"But we’ll sell loads more copies! You’ll be famous! They even want you to have your picture taken together! It’ll be beautiful! Literary soul-mates!"
"I’m feeling sick at the thought of it -"
"So that’s a yes?"
"No Tommy, this time it’s a no."