By way of a hat-trick for a day about different types of notability, I’m reeling from reportage of the Booker Prize winner, Anne Enright, by the likes of the Evening Standard today.
The banner across the Standard’s front page shows a photo of the McCann parents next to the heading, ‘What I think about the McCanns by the Booker Prize winner. Page 7.’ Their photo, not hers.
The story focusses on a piece Ms Enright wrote for the London Review Of Books where she talks about her reaction to the case. It came out in the issue dated 4 October, which is when I read it myself (it’s rather good: brave, but honest). Not news any more, you’d have thought.
But from the impression given by today’s papers, it’s as if she said those things in her Booker acceptance speech last night. And then got in a time machine to have them published three weeks ago.
The Daily Mail’s headline is ‘New Booker Prize winner Anne Enright’s amazing attack on Gerry and Kate McCann.’
No, what’s amazing is that the Mail failed to notice her LRB piece first time round, when she was a lesser-known Booker-shortlisted author. Not notable enough a status, one must now infer, unless you’re called Ian McEwan.
