I'm Will Self and I've got a thesaurus

Came across the following quote from Will Self today. Now I actually quite like Will Self - if not as a writer, then for his involvement with some of the best moments from Vic and Bob's Shooting Stars (notably the brilliant Hernia Hotline sketch). But this quote, promoting a DVD of art films by Ian Breakwell (no, me neither), is twaddle of the very highest order:

'Breakwell's was an art of retrieval, absorption and contrariety. His video pieces are subtle enactments of an individual praxis that compel our attention, again and again, to the uneasy comity of lived life.'

I don't know about you, but among those 30-odd words are at least three that I would have to reach for a dictionary to check. This, of course, is the literary equivalent to driving a garish sports car. 'Look at me! I'm Will Self and I've got a thesaurus!' Apparently, Self has written a full 'accompanying booklet' of this stuff. The BFI project was supported by the Arts Council, and I can't help wondering how much cash Self must have trousered in return for his efforts. Watch this instead:



Paul