Speculation, Fact and Fiction

It would seem last week's tale in The Times (and others) along the lines of "Fumes made me go lowbrow, says writer" was by no means the whole story, or even within spitting distance of accurate.

So, if like me, you were grinding your teeth over the tale as reported, you may like to check out today's considerably fuller and more nuanced version in The Guardian

If you're short of time, you may just be relieved to read the author in question says

"I haven't dumbed down. I never said it. That's the pure invention of the Times. They have decided that this effete literary woman has become so stupid that she can no longer write boring literary fiction and writes poorly selling thrillers instead. My mental faculties haven't deteriorated. And anyway, what an insult it would be to thriller writers to suggest that you need to be stupid to write them. It seems to me so irritating that you would denigrate a remarkable genre where much of the best writing is done. I'm a great admirer of writers like John Grisham and Scott Turow."