Pippa's Arse: who's deceiving who in the world of publishing

Theoretically, it's a book about how to give a party. But we all know how to give a party

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PHWOAR! Isn't that what we are supposed to think when we see a pretty backside sashaying along the street: Phwoar? Unless we're the bloke in charge of spending money on behalf of Michael Joseph, a publisher, and the tush in question belongs to Pippa Middleton. In which case we pay her a reported £400,000. Which is, in these hard times, an awful lot for a book about an arse.

Theoretically, it's not a book about her arse at all. Theoretically, it's a book about how to give a party. But we all know how to give a party. It's easy, unless you're one of those people who are so busy being "successful" you pay companies to give parties on your behalf. Like the one Pippa's parents founded, which earned them enough to send their daughters to Marlborough and become posh enough for sister Kate to snag herself a prince.

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is the author of Big Babies (about the silliness of the Baby Boomers), Lost Worlds (about things which have vanished) and, with Kathleen Burk, The Secret Life of Wine. He has also written computer games, taught Tragedy at Cambridge and is a regular broadcaster.