‘Lonely Hearts ads of every era have demonstrated distinct stylistic conventions, with the result that many end up sharing a common language and structure ... After a while ... all the advertisers start to sound the same, which is perhaps the intention; by reducing one’s identity to forty words of (mostly predictable) adjectives, one portrays oneself as Everyman or Everywoman, thereby avoiding the risk of sounding silly. There have always been exceptions to this rule – those who consciously seek to stand out from the crowd (just browse the ads in any edition of the London Review of Books) – but they are in the minority.’

Vintage | Paperback 224 pp |ISBN: 9780099513346