A is for Artist, D is for Dealers

‘S is for Spoof.’ There it is on page 86, a full-page reproduction of a Nat Tate drawing, sold at Sotheby’s in 2011 for £6,500. A sum which, it is added,

with all due respect to [William] Boyd’s ability as an artist, probably proves the point about promotion being more important than talent.

It’s always something of a shock to encounter in a serious book the artist I invented and it’s a measure of the huge frame of reference encompassed in Breakfast at Sotheby’s that even Nat Tate and his drawing can make a salutary appearance.

Philip Hook has realised and brilliantly exploited the peculiar advantages of the A-Z format. Using the alphabet as a template forces you to think laterally. Half of the letters practically write themselves — ‘A is for Artist’ — but filling in the others frequently requires real ingenuity. When it works, as it triumphantly does here, the resulting impression is of a quart miraculously poured into a pint pot.