Piers Paul Read
PAUL Theroux's My Secret History (Ham- ish Hamilton, £11.95) seems to me to be one of the best books he has ever written. There is a wit, energy and precision to his style which makes most other contempor- ary fiction seem dreary and amateur. Mar- cel Reich-Ranicki's Thomas Mann and His Family (Collins, £20) gives a malicious critique of the genius as well as fascinating observations of the whole dynasty of deca- dent Germans. Finally, Timothy McDer- mott's superb 'concise translation' of Tho- mas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae (Eyre & Spottiswoode, £40) makes this classic of mediaeval thought accessible to the gener- al reader. Forty pounds may seem expen- sive, but in my opinion it is better value than a couple of biographies or a year's subscription to a Sunday newspaper.
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