Publisher's Synopsis
Trevor Pateman taught for twenty years at the University of Sussex, contributing to courses in philosophy, linguistics, critical theory, creative writing, and at the same time publishing across those fields. In Prose Improvements he mobilises that background to range widely over the nature of prose fiction and memoir, the process of composition, and such problematic areas as grammar, punctuation and dedications. One essay starts from a reflection on a line in A Perfect Spy, and John le Carré contributes a letter in response. The first edition of the book is limited to five hundred copies, signed and numbered.