Archer, Jeffrey. And Thereby Hangs a Tale

Archer, Jeffrey. And Thereby Hangs a Tale, Pan Macmillan, London, 2010. (Pages 288, paperback) 

Rating: 2.5/10

Contains fifteen stories, including nine allegedly true. 

What is written has always been more important than how in any Archer book. In a creative writing classroom, two randomly selected passages were chosen for editing. One was by James Joyce, and another by Jeffrey Archer. The authors and titles of books were not revealed. Students could edit the Archer passages endlessly. So much to cut, so much to refine. With Joyce, the writing was perfect, tight. Nothing to edit, nothing to fine tune. (Having said that, I would certainly take an Archer book on a flight rather than a Joyce novel.)

I should note, however, that every succeeding Archer book is more sloppily written with even typos found in places. Archer is one good example of how a famous writer can sell badly written books.

The stories in And Thereby Hangs a Tale are cleverly arranged. The best stories are at the beginning of the book. (Stuck on you, the queen’s birthday telegram, and high heels). The last few stories are an embarrassment. (Politically correct is predictable and with major flaws, better the devil you know is confusing and bad, no room at the inn is ordinary, and caste-off set in Delhi is meaningless and unconvincing).

Verdict: Don’t buy the book. Borrow to read the first three stories. If you were to steal the book, I’m sure you will give it back.

Ravi