Thanks, Poirot, for your very generous comments. I now look upon it (the would-be novel) as an attempt, my apprenticeship if you like, and am relieved it was never published. Though it has great bones I think and I look forward to getting back to it in the not too distant.
Have you or Foxy read Niven's second memoir, "Bring on the Empty Horses"? Or his novel? I've read the memoirs but not the novel(s)--don't know if he wrote more than one. I've now closed access to those bits of mine, though am happy to reopen if anyone wants a look. All criticism welcome. Training to be an academic, one has to learn to take it on the chin.

Chin chin.

Dear Squeers,

"The Bolter," was not in "Love in a Cold Climate,"
as far as I can recall. And talking about the
controversial Mitford family - you may be interested
in "The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family,"
by Mary S. Lovell.

I have read Niven's "Bring on the Empty Horses," and
I enjoyed his anecdotes on Hollywood. However, I must
confess that his original, "The Moon's A Balloon,"
is the one that to me was the favourite. Although,
Niven writes
with wit, charm and warmth in both - so you can't go
wrong with either read.

I haven't read, "Life A User's Manual," by Georges Perec.
David Bellos wrote the book,
"Georges Perec: A Life in Words." Bellos translated -
"Life A User's Manual," he's Prof. of French and
Comparative Literature at Princeton and was awarded the
Prix Concourt de la Biographie for "Georges Perec: A
Life in Words."

Talking about biographies have you read the biography
of, "The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II,"
by Edvard Radzinsky, or "Mary Queen of Scots," by
Antonia Fraser, or "Edward VIII," by Frances Donaldson.
Hindsight could be applicable to all of their lives,
though I wonder if it would have changed anything all
that much. Sometimes, circumstances are beyond anyone's
control.

Another interesting read is, "10 Years After Ivan Denisovitch,"
by Zhores A. Medvedev. It's a great authoritative book on
Solzhenitsyn. Particularly valuable is the light shed on
the unsavoury black market in "samizdat" in the West -
where publication by emigre presses brought discredit
on Solzhenitsyn. And the detailed account of the extraordinary
behaviour of the Swedish Embassy in Moscow when it came to
awarding him the Nobel Prize there is an eye-opener.

So much to read so little time...

I would love to read your work, but possibly later on, if
the offer is still open. Too much on my plate at present.

cont'd ...

I forgot to add the following website:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/17/society1

Miranda Seymour has written a review of
the book, "The Bolter," by Frances Osborne,
called, "Now we see her, Now We Don't."
It may be of interest as it covers who
the character of Nancy Mitford's "the Bolter,"
is supposedly based on, and in which book she
appears.

Dear Foxy and Squeers,

Just remembered a couple of humorous novels from the late nineteenth century,
"Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome and "Diary of a Nobody" by George and Weedon Grossmith, both quietly hilarious.

Also, short stories by Henry James (although he's a little long winded) and French writer Colette - an evocative writer.

Dear Foxy,
I also enjoyed "The Moon's a Balloon", but Niven's second Memoir also because have always been interested in the great stars of yesteryear. I also recommend Harpo Marx's bio; just called "Harpo", I think.
Thanks for the lowdown on Life a User's Manuel. I read the book when it was first published in English in OZ, but it is one of numerous I've loaned out to friends and never seen again.
I think hindsight is applicable to all "our" lives; I'm sure we'd all like another go at it.
Thanks for the interest in my "little bit of ivory", was only a couple of short chapters; the whole thing needs a lot of work--one day.

Dear Poirot,
a few famous old classics there. I like Henry James very much, especially "The Figure in the Carpet", "The Europeans" and "Portrait of a Lady".

Thanks all for the contributions. How do we make time for real life!

I haven't read much of what has been offered thus far, being more into what I used to think 'contemporary' but I wonder if I am now in the old fogey category.

For example works by Elmore Leonard, our own Tim Winton, Peter Carey.

And for some contemplation, Bret Easton Ellis. I read his "American Psycho" when in my early 20's, it scared me more than anything I have ever read, because it was so plausable, I believed that character and thought writer Easton Ellis seriously fvcked.

However I was reading a review by Fay Wheldon who had the following to say:

We can look back at all this and not take it so seriously—and taking it too seriously might’ve been the problem in the first place. As Jordinson points out, the satire that was off-putting back then has only gained potency over time:

"As well as being a repulsive nightmare, Patrick Bateman is a comic creation of the highest order. His snobbery, his bad taste, his obsession with Les Mis and ability to take Huey Lewis and the News seriously, his terror when someone has a better business card than him, his constant worry that he has “to return some videos” all add up to one of the funniest comic creations since Bertie Wooster. True, he isn’t quite such pleasant company as Bertie, but what did you expect? He’s a psycho."

http://americanfiction.wordpress.com/category/bret-easton-ellis/

I don't think I'll be rereading American Pyscho again, however as a character, I have met some Patrick Batemans in my life - OK maybe they weren't serial killers, but the snobbery, the obsessions with body image and material possession exemplified the excesses of the 80's that have continued to the climax of the GFC. And still we haven't learned.

In focusing on "the classics" we fail to note the pertinent observations being made about our own contemporary world. I agree we can learn from the past, but on rethinking "American Psycho" I have become hyper-vigilant to the issues that effect us now.

The new 'indifference' - the callousness towards refugees, unemployed, disabled, elderly, indigenous peoples.

Thanks