Decorative books that let the shelf-obsessed appear cultured | Letters

Readers respond to an article about how some people are buying books ‘by the metre’ to create chic interiorsThe article on buying books by the metre to decorate a room (‘Look how well-read I am!’: How ‘books by the metre’ add the final touch to your home – or your image, 22 July) reminded me of the famous service offered by Flann O’Brien, writing as Myles na gCopaleen, to those people who wanted to appear cultured but were too busy to read. Levels of book-handling are offered from Popular Handling to Handling Superb, or Le Traitement Superbe. The satirical fantasy is available to read in The Best of Myles.My 1975 Picador copy needs no such service, not because it’s been read several times, but because the low standards of British book production mean the pages are browned, the spine is reassuringly cracked, and if I tried to reread it the whole book would fall apart.John LancasterPeakirk, Cambridgeshire Continue reading...

Comments

Opinions

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Keir Starmer is rudderless in a sea of troubles

How Kate helped bring Coronation pictures to life - by royal snapper: RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY

SARAH VINE: The reason so many of us feel at the end of our tether is that the political class have never let us have a truly honest debate about mass immigration

Now that even South Park is mocking Trump over Epstein, he knows he's facing a scandal he can't control: ANDREW NEIL

When will critics admit Trump’s trade strategy is working?

Trump’s tariff plan seems to be working — proving all the naysayers wrong

Forget the White Van Man stereotype. The truth, finds ROBERT HARDMAN, is that the Epping hotel protests are being led by concerned mothers

ALEX BRUMMER: Banks face a fintech coup

Sorry, New York: West Virginia won’t clean up your climate mess

The ‘woke right’ free-trade critics are only fooling themselves

Team Trump is right to sue NYC over its ‘sanctuary’ laws — but Mayor Adams isn’t the one to blame

Joe Root is heading for top spot and why it's not all about spin - particularly at Old Trafford: BUMBLE AT THE TEST

Columbia’s $200M payout: Letters to the Editor — July 26, 2025

Cheapening ‘genocide,’ strip the NEA of its charter and other commentary

India's performance has been littered with mistakes by captain Shubman Gill - this England series is an example of how five matches can grind you down, writes NASSER HUSSAIN

Letters to the Editor: How can LAUSD's gains continue if its one-time federal boost is used up?

BORIS JOHNSON: I've just had private healthcare and here's why I'm not ashamed to admit it

Letters to the Editor: Williamson Act has made a legal 'mess' for California's farmland and solar

Letters to the Editor: East Altadena wasn't spared from fire truck absences during Eaton fire

Letters to the Editor: As Trump administration comes for trans youth's healthcare, 'who's next?'

Rat in the ranks! The Welcome to Country problem that just won't go away

JAN MOIR: Ghislaine's no angel, but why do the men who colluded with Epstein still walk free?

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Unforgivable on BBC2: Shocking but powerful, this was even tougher to watch than Adolescence

ALISON BOSHOFF: Dragon's podcast gives 'biased and dangerous' advice, says cancer expert

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: 'No10 lied to hide distaste for Donald Trump's speech in UK'

OF COURSE ‘restorative justice’ in schools doesn’t work — and now the proof is in

It’s been a rough week for Gen X — losing Theo, Ozzy and now ‘Real American’ icon Hulk Hogan

Scotty Enoe’s deserved acquittal proves it: Alvin Bragg hates citizens who dare to defend themselves

Ben Stokes is bowling more consistently than ever - this series proves that when fit the England captain is one of the great all-rounders, writes NASSER HUSSAIN

Tulsi’s Russiagate bombshell: Letters to the Editor — July 25, 2025

Rahm Emanuel’s ritual humiliation explains the Democrats’ plight

Barack Obama’s dirty trick destroyed a presidency — and our trust

Trump makes academia face the damning truth about foreign students

The week in whoppers: Jeff Daniels’ dumb anti-Trump slam, Jerry Nadler’s stunning ignorance on ICE assaults and more

Smear merchant Brad Lander’s lie about Mayor Adams is disgusting, even for him

Tax trauma for growth: Labour is squeezing the life out of Britain's flatlining economy, says ALEX BRUMMER

Ozzy Osbourne blurted out: 'I can't f***ing take it!' His friends share incredible behind-the-scenes details with KENNEDY

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: The Epping migrant fiasco has revealed a troubling truth about our country. I have warned about this for years... now it can no longer be denied

I spent four nights a week drinking until I blacked out - before snorting cocaine to sober up. I told myself it was OK... but this is how I finally ditched the booze: BRYONY GORDON

Contributor: Barring undocumented kids from Head Start does not serve our nation

Miranda Devine: The country deserves better than the Dems ‘cracked out clown show,’ ‘elite’ media ignoring Gabbard’s bombshell

Epstein being some kind of intelligence asset is laughable – he was nothing more than a depraved high society snake

JENNI MURRAY: I would be terrified at the thought at giving birth today

This monster should be SHOT DEAD: On a day of unfathomable pain, MAUREEN CALLAHAN spots Bryan Kohberger's subtle final insult that's so depraved it's sick

PETER HITCHENS: The drug dealers that shot past me at 40mph and why I fear we're not being told how many people are being killed in e-bike crashes

Europe won’t pay its NATO share, COVID tied to bioweapons work and other commentary

AI is eating leftist garbage from Wikipedia — and YOU consume what comes out

Flip off, Little League — adults need to stop sucking the fun out of kids’ sports

Mahmoud Khalil won’t condemn Hamas — but some Democrats are still racing to kiss his ring

My fabulous friendship with Imelda Marcos — the first lady of the Philippines

Columbia must make good on its promises and quash antisemitism

Insane sanctuary laws make NYC unsafe — but ICE is up for the fight

Time to get real about the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mideast menace

Columbia must do more to root out hate on campus — starting in the faculty lounge

Trump’s war on ‘woke AI’ is just Step 1: now we must fight the ‘monster’ within

Hunter’s tone-deaf interview: Letters to the Editor — July 24, 2025

Flawed white collar justice: Fraud Office must act faster to bring prosecutions, says ALEX BRUMMER

DAN HODGES: 'He's insane. I want to scream.' Extraordinary comments Labour MPs made to me about Keir Starmer after his latest gaffe... and why it tells us a dark truth about how he runs the country

When my wife wasn't looking, the babysitter made a request every man fears: DEAR JANE

Letters to the Editor: The government should stop making 'false promises' for hopes of legal immigration