Tony Blair says he wants some "improving literature" for Christmas. But what would make a good literary gift for the Prime Minister? The Magazine scans the current bestsellers list for a few ideas. `
Mr Blair is on record as being a PG Wodehouse fan and he is also reputed to pack a copy of the Koran and the Bible when going on foreign trips.
He is also known to enjoy a ripping yarn. Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe was a favourite of his as a lad, apparently, and he says he has re-read the Lord of The Rings books with his children.
Inspired choice?
But with David Blunkett and Gordon Brown already down as the Cabinet's official Harry Potter fans, Mr Blair might want to venture into more grown-up - but no less gripping - waters with Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, set in Oxford, where the PM attended university.
Mr Blair also loves his rock music, so Nick Hornby's 31 Songs , in which the About a Boy author discusses, erm, his favourite 31 songs, might prove an inspired choice.
But Hornby's tastes - which run to Nelly Furtado and Aussie experimentalists The Avalanches - may be a little too exotic for the guitar-strumming PM, who never tires of showing off his hard rock credentials (recent favourites are the Foo Fighters and The Darkness).
A safer bet could be Sting's autobiography, Broken Music . The Geordie warbler's journey from angry young punk to inoffensive, adult orientated rocker may strike a chord with the PM, and they both share a love of Newcastle United football club (allegedly).
Big sellers
Similarly, Serious , John McEnroe's much-praised autobiography might be a good choice for the tennis-loving premier. He has certainly heard enough of McEnroe's catchphrase over the past 12 months.
TV spin-offs, such as What Not to Wear (memo to Mr Blair: do not buy for Cherie) are doing well in the bestseller list, as is Shane Richie's autobiography Rags to Richie (memo to Mr Blair: think of better title than this for your autobiography).
Another big seller, How Clean is Your House? looks more promising, but turns out to be another Trinny and Susannah-style snobfest, and nothing to do with the register of members' interests.
The biggest selling political book is Dude, Where's my Country? (No, not George W Bush's first words on stepping on to the tarmac at Heathrow the other week, but the current bible of the militant anti-war brigade).
War stories
Mr Blair is unlikely to be impressed by author Michael Moore's scabrous account of his friend Mr Bush's rise to power. He will find a more sympathetic portrait of the US president in Bush at War , by veteran Watergate journalist Bob Woodward. But according to most reviewers, the book reduces Downing Street's role in the proceedings to that of a footnote.
Robin Cook puts Downing Street firmly at the centre of events in his diary of the lead up to war, Point of Departure . But the former foreign secretary's version of history, described by one reviewer as "glancingly bitchy," is unlikely to do much for Mr Blair's blood pressure.
If he really wants a political tome to get his teeth into, Mr Blair could do worse than The Prudence of Mr Gordon Brown , William Keegan's study of the economic philosophy and psychological motivation of the PM's self-styled "best friend in politics". Mrs Blair may want to slip a copy into his stocking, in the interest of promoting neighbourly love and understanding.
Comedy choices
Or, if imagination and time run out, there is always the emergency stand-by comedy stocking filler.
Men apparently can't get enough of random, meaningless lists - so if Mr Blair fancies a break from compiling the New Year's Honours, he might enjoy Schott's Food and Drink Miscellany . Its mischievous - and virtually identical - twin Shite's Original Miscellany is also doing brisk business, as is The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Parenting .
But Mr Blair may find more use for the Oxford Dictionary of English , if an old CV unearthed by the press this week is anything to go by. The document was full of howlers, including a reference to Tony Glair, although the mistakes were blamed on "typing errors".
Crap Towns - a pictorial rundown of the 50 most miserable locations in the British Isles - is also doing well, and may provide a guilty snigger or two for Mr Blair.
Until he realises the main criteria for inclusion is the local crime rate and the quality of the schools.
[© BBC News, 03/12/03]
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