Scatter Brained

C H A P T E R   9

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S C A T T E R B R A I N E D
As for how to spot real great writers from fake ones, they’ve 
been fi ghting over that for centuries. . . .
09
Recent Feuds in Literature
AMIS VERSUS AMIS
The Rivals:
 Kingsley Amis, author of 
Lucky Jim,
 and his son, 
Martin Amis, author of 
Th
  e Rachel Papers
How It Started:
 Kingsley told the 
Guardian,
 “If I was review-
ing Martin under a pseudonym, I would say he works too 
hard and it shows.”
Highlights:
 After Kingsley died, Martin responded in book 
form with 
Koba the Dread,
 a biography of Stalin that doubles 
as a damning condemnation of his father’s Communist sym-
pathies. But one wonders why Martin was so hurt—his re-
views are sometimes much worse than what his dad said of 
him. Author Tibor Fischer said that reading Amis’s 2003 
Yel-
low Dog
 was akin to “your favourite uncle being caught in a 
school playground, masturbating.”
The Conclusion:
 Kingsley is still dead; Martin is still one of 
the most important writers in contemporary Britain.