My friend Nick

has started quite a racket over at The Believer: a monthly column startlingly entitled “STUFF I’VE BEEN READING”. Now, I like Nick - despite his Gooner inclination – and quite a bit since he decided to jump inside my head and take notes of what was going on in there. The resultant book, High Fidelity, is naturally a delight.

His latest book, such as it is, recalls the autobio-musicological 31 Songs, only with a biblio-tech slant. It’s basically a month-by-month recounting of his reading purchases and reading readings. It is no surprise to learn that he – much like the rest of us – suffers from a deficit between the two, with “reading purchases” greatly out-muscling the latter (July 2004 is typical).

To return to the gripe: The Polysyllabic Spree is but a blog published. A very good blog, to be sure, but a blog nonetheless. Both in terms of medium and format, the column reproduces much of what you see uploaded to the net on a daily basis. Quality writing flourishes regardless of context, but the reverse does not necessarily hold true. An obvious truth. So what does The Polysyllabic Spree signal to the rest of us? It just doesn’t feel right. Its appearance neither elavates the status of blogs in general, nor does it settle well with web-sensibility that Nick Hornby not only surfs it but also earns a living from the net. More than that, a peculiar circularity is created: I blog about Nick that blogs about books. That’s where I try to fight the waves.

Come on, Nick, give us bloggers a chance – you’re popular enough as it is. I mean, type “nick hormby” on Google and the helpful “Did you mean: nick hornby” appears. I wonder if he ever googles himself?