Mark Mason

Bookends | 27 August 2011

Pooh-poohed by Owl

issue 27 August 2011

‘Owl?’ said Pooh. ‘What’s a biography?’

‘A biography,’ replied Owl, ‘is an Important Book. Such as an Interested Person might read. Anyone who is interested in the real-life toys which inspired you and Piglet and the others, for instance, might be tempted to read The Life and Times of Winnie the Pooh by Shirley Harrison.’

‘Is that the one you said was published by Remember When at nineteen pounds ninety-nine?’ asked Pooh.

‘The very same,’ answered Owl. Then he fixed Pooh with a Meaningful Stare. ‘But — and I say this with regret — it is a temptation they should probably resist.’

Pooh looked sad. ‘Really?’

Owl nodded. ‘It is touching that our adventures still inspire people. And the book does, I believe, proffer the occasional smackerel of interest. Winnie ille Pu being the only Latin book ever to feature on the New York Times bestseller list, for example. But most of its contents are, unfortunately, already well known.

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