Free The Great Pursuit by Tom Sharpe

clarity and legibility.'

He told a story about Palmerston's insistence on fine writing by the clerks in the Foreign Office

and dismissed the ball-pen with contempt. So obsessive was his concern with calligraphy that Mr

Fossie had ended the interview before he realized that no mention had been made of the novel he

had come to discuss.
    'He's certainly different from any other author I've ever met,' he told Sonia as she saw him

out. 'All that stuff about Kipling's note-paper, for God's sake!'
    'What do you expect from genius?' said Sonia. 'Some spiel about how brilliant his novel

is?'
    'And how brilliant is this genius's novel?'
    'Two million dollars worth. That's the reality value.'
    'Some reality,' said Mr Fossie with more percipience than he knew.
    Even Frensic, who had anticipated disaster, was impressed. 'If he keeps that up we'll be all

right,' he said. 'We're going to be fine,' said Sonia.
    After lunch the Daily Telegraph photographer insisted, thanks to a chance remark by Piper that

he had once lived near the scene of the explosion in The Secret Agent in Greenwich Park, on

taking his photographs as it were on location.
    'It adds dramatic interest,' he said evidently supposing the explosion to have been a real

one. They went down on the river boat from Charing Cross, Piper explaining to the interviewer,

Miss Pamela Wildgrove, that Conrad had been a major influence on his work. Miss Wildgrove made a

note of the fact. Piper said Dickens had also been an influence. Miss Wildgrove made a note of

that fact too. By the time they reached Greenwich her notebook was crammed with influences but

Piper's own work had hardly been mentioned.
    'I understand Pause O Men for the Virgin deals with the love affair between a

seventeen-year-old boy and...' Miss Wildgrove began but Sonia intervened.
    'Mr Piper doesn't wish to discuss the content of his novel,' she said hurriedly. 'We're

keeping the book under wraps.'
    'But surely he's prepared to say...'
    'Let's just say it is a work of major importance and opens new ground in the area of age

differentials,' said Sonia and hurried Piper away to be photographed incongruously on the deck of

the Cutty Sark, in the grounds of the Maritime Museum and by the Observatory. Miss Wildgrove

followed disconsolately.
    'On the way back stick to ink and your ledgers,' Sonia told Piper and Piper followed her

advice. In the end Miss Wildgrove returned to her office to compose an article with a distinctly

nautical flavour while Sonia shepherded her charge back to the office.
    'You did very well,' she told him.
    'Yes, but hadn't I better read this book I'm supposed to have written? I mean, I don't even

know what it's about.'
    'You can do that on the boat going over to the States.'
    'Boat?' said Piper.
    'Much nicer than flying,' said Sonia. 'Hutchmeyer is arranging some big reception for you in

New York and it will draw bigger crowds at the dockside. Anyway we've done the interviews and the

TV programme isn't till next Wednesday. You can go back to Exforth and pack. Get back here

Tuesday afternoon and I'll brief you for the programme. We're leaving from Southampton

Thursday.'
    'You're wonderful,' said Piper fervently, 'I want you to know that.' He left the office and

caught the evening train to Exeter. Sonia sat on in her office and thought wistfully about him.

Nobody had ever told her she was wonderful before.
    Certainly Frensic didn't next morning. He arrived at the office in a towering rage carrying a

copy of the Guardian.
    'I thought you told me all he was going to talk about was inks and pens,' he shouted at the

startled Sonia.
    'That's right. He was quite fascinating.'
    'Well then kindly explain all this about Graham Greene being a second-rate hack,' Frensic

yelled and thrust the article under her nose. 'That's right. Hack. Graham Greene. A hack. The

man's insane!'
    Sonia read the article and had to admit that it was a bit extreme.
    'Still,