Peter Hoskin

From the archives: Jeffrey Bernard does Christmas

By way of a Christmas aperitif for CoffeeHousers, here’s Jeffrey Bernard enduring the festive season for his Low Life column in 1988:

Eastern Promise, Jeffrey Bernard, The Spectator, 17 December 1988

Speaking as a man with little faith I find this whole business of Christmas one hell of an inconvenience. It must be even worse for a turkey. One of the things that annoys me is the fact that I can hardly find a table in any of the restaurants I use because of the number of wretches who only seem to eat and drink once a year. Where the hell are they in, say, August?

I spent one Christmas in St Stephen’s Hospital years ago and it passed almost unnoticed. The fact that I was not allowed to eat anything at the time was a blessing in disguise.

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