'The difficult thing with a column," the late Margaret Thatcher once told the journalist Jenny McCartney, "is thinking of something new to say every week." Yes, indeed.
BITTER EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT ME, by Nicholas Lezard. Faber and Faber, 2013, 304 pp., £9.99 (paperback)
But Nicholas Lezard can write about his frustration at being given a receipt by a pasty salesman, or the labeling of herbs in the supermarket, or his efforts to move a sofa, and keep readers of his New Statesman column perfectly happy. Many subscribers turn to his Down and Out in London column first, if the journal's "meet the subscriber" feature is a guide.
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