2007-03-22 Love him or hate him, Archer can write.

I really enjoyed this book. I won't write what it's about since everyone else has covered it quite thoroughly. However, I returned to it many times to read again passages that I found particularly enjoyable. I can pick it up, open it at a random page and instantly be engrossed once more. As a matter of fact I find that with many of Archer's books.

Certainly that's the kind of thing that makes him a bestselling writer, but does bestselling mean `great'?

I don't know. What does `great' mean? I tried reading One Hundred Years of Solitude (which is supposed to be a great book) a few years ago, and gave up after 300 pages when I couldn't remember who was related to whom any more. On the other hand, I have loved Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird since I was a teenager. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Is Archer a great writer? Who cares? For me, `Not a penny...' is a great read, and that's what counts.