Writing Home, by Alan Bennett (Faber, £7.99 in UK)

Apparently this has been a "huge bestseller" in hardback and the (London) reviews are ecstatic. Bennett is a successful playwright and media personage, familiar on TV for his series Talking Heads. In an introduction he writes: "This book brings together the talks, diaries and occasional journalism that I have written over the past 20 years or so." An interest in (British) theatre is almost a prerequisite, since much of the writing is about plays both onstage and backstage, though there is also a lengthy section called "Books and Writers." Alan Bennett has a flair for reportage and the gift of close up observation, but overall I found the book less than compelling - better suited to dipping into than being digested as a whole. (There is a lot of it, too; over 600 pages, including new material).