Contrary to Howard Jacobson's contention that Australian readers prefer their fiction to be "unwritten" and "unfictional", I prefer a novel to be without haphazardness of structure and about people who stretch my boundaries of empathy. There's a tang of narcissism in
…more Finkler. This puts Jacobson in the category of "un-writer" - the sort of author that he denigrated in his 1987 travel book "In the Land of Oz". I admire Jacobson's humour, but would have liked a few commas and other traditional grammatical devices to admire as well. Good luck to him with the pleasure of that lucrative reward. He should revisit Australia to do a witty update of his travel book, a genre in which he excels. (less)
