John Ezard of the Guardian reports on an amusing but troubling survey result that found that one out of three Londoners have purchased books simply because they thought it would make them look smarter. This intellectual keeping up with the Joneses benefits mostly the sales of those books shortlisted for prizes, but even some prize-winners prove a hard sell: of the 2,100 people surveyed, not one of them had read the latest Man Booker winner, John Banville’s The Sea.

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