The publishers of one of my favourite authors, William Boyd, who has made a good living I imagine over the years with his excellent books, many of which have won prizes and been made into films, have taken to adding the word ‘literary’ to the blurb on their covers. “A combination of suspense and literature” is attributed to one, while another sports the legend: “the art of the literary page-turner.” Mr Boyd does not need this. His work stands on its own merit. His stories are readable, entertaining and well-written. What more can we want? Maybe, in a world where so many below-standard books are published, his publishers feel the need to point out that his work is written composition, especially the kind valued for form.