The classics buff tracks down the previous owners of his books,but fails to accomplish justice to their lives, or his ownIt sounds an intriguing notion. Josh Spero, and writer,magazine editor and classics buff, tracks down previous owners of the secondhand books he owns. In between finding out what these actors, and teachers and Bletchley Park codebreakers did next,Spero tells his own story. This is a man whose 30th birthday party was in Tatler final year, but on the whole he is self-deprecating about his journey from geeky Jewish boy in north London to Oxford, and tutoring and journalism. Yet the project (crowdfunded via Unbound) falls down in the writing. The profiles of his book owners are often curiously flat,never celebrating the intricacies of life. And Spero tones down his own life to the point where he makes winning University Challenge with the Magdalen College team in 2004 seem insensible. Save for a very good chapter on late poet/priest Peter Levi, moment Hand Stories feels apologetic – more in need of an encouraging editor than online donations.
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Source: theguardian.com