Sheer Pleasure

Today we had our first ever Saturday delivery from a printer – and even if I had to go to the office on a Saturday morning, what a pleasure it was when I opened the boxes. This is possibly the best book we ever published from a production point of view.

That the book in question is Bykov's Living Souls makes me even prouder, as it's an excellent piece of literature, which I hope will be well received by the English readers.

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On a totally different subject – have you read about that Waterstone's warehouse employee who's been sacked because of excessive farting? I can see many literary blogs have picked this up, but no mainstream newspapers, no TV channel has reported on this. Why? Farting is one of the most venerable and age-old activities, and surely it shouldn't lead to discrimination in the workplace and even unfair dismissal?

I have resolved to send, on Monday, a copy of our edition of The Benefit of Farting Explained to the new management at Waterstone's. Maybe they'll relent, when they read in it:

"Fart away then, my brethren, and let farting be in common among you. Vie with each other in producing … the sonorous, full-toned, loud fart.

Fart loud, I say, and never more be restrained by example, age, rank or sex, for it is natural and laudable, wholesome and laughable, humorous and comfortable"
(from Charles James Fox's Essay Upon Wind, 1787)