A few weeks ago, in New York, I accompanied a friend on a shopping expedition. While we were in a novelty gift shop on Columbus Avenue, she bought me a rubber stamp which she said I'd find useful when I got back to my Arts Council office in London. I know what she means, though, in fact, I've found myself using it, not on office memos (strong at times though the temptation has been), but on press clippings relating to the Arts Council. The stamp reads 'BULLSHIT' and it has recently been slapped on articles in the Sunday Times, Publishing News and the Times Educational Supplement. As the 1940 Deanna Durbin song says, 'it's foolish but it's fun.'

LRB 7 June 1984 | PDF Download