The Pheasants' Revolt, By Brian Viner
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There are several obstacles to enjoying this account of the Viner family's attempts to settle in rural north Herefordshire after relocating from London's Crouch End. To begin with, there's the ghastly punning title, which looms at you like something nasty from the 1970s. After that there's the first anecdote about "an attractive strawberry blonde of indeterminate years" who turns out to be a scarecrow; a patrician little tale that reminds readers how "Best Scarecrow competitions... or Dog with the Waggiest Tail competitions, are taken with deadly seriousness in the country". Finally, there's the grasping zaniness. Chapter two starts: "Whether the doctor and nurses had caught a whiff of my aloe-scented scrotum or not, I must say that when I started writing this book, I didn't expect to embark quite so soon on the story of my snip in Llandrindod Wells."
If these things don't put you off you may, like Michael Palin (quoted on the back), find there's "not a single dull page". On the other hand, you may wonder if Mr Palin was talking about the brightness of the paper.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments