Trivia

My first book introduced me to the ins and outs of literary PR.

It certainly did me no harm that publication coincided with the 250th anniversary of Johnson's magnum opus. I even made it on to the BBC's breakfast TV show, where I caused some bewilderment by using the phrase "paradigm shift" before 9 AM. To my embarrassment, after coming off-air I neglected to remove the make-up that had been liberally applied to my face.

By this time I'd also been introduced to the opaque protocols of book jacket design. When I saw the cover for the UK hardback edition, I was a little surprised that it showed Johnson at a well-ordered desk, sitting on an elegant chair in smart clothes and with a neatly arranged wig. Compare the text: "Johnson presided over the scene from an odd three-legged chair; traumatized volumes lay all around..."