Simon Brett - On Second Thoughts

On the cover of On Second Thoughts… is a drawing of King Arthur and his knights sitting at a square table as one of the group asks if anyone else thinks the Feng Shui is all wrong.

But they say never judge a book by its cover.

Past the cover, On Second Thoughts falls down hard. The books is a supposedly funny collection of “first drafts” that might have happened, described on the tagline as “Bad first ideas and other rubbish from the bins of the famous”.

To be fair, On Second Thoughts has its good moments. There’s a series of spoof library tickets sent to famous people. A chasing letter to Bono for the return of “How To Be Me” by Mother Teresa and stuff like that.

Admitting my ignorance, I’ll also say that some of the references are too obscure for the average Joe. There were whole sections that I just didn’t get. And I consider myself fairly well read, so there.

Another problem with the book is the poor quality of some of the clippings. I know they’re supposed to be mock-authentic items, but the quality is so poor that the pieces are actually hard to read.

Nope folks, give this one a wide berth!