10 June 2020
Wednesday. The papers have used the word again. Copycat. I have underlined it in every copy in the newsagent, which the newsagent did not appreciate.
Let us be clear. I have seen the films. Everybody has seen the films. A gentleman with a good accent, a taste for classical music and an opinion about wine. If I happen to share one or two of those qualities, that is called having taste, and taste is not theft.
Do they call every chef who makes a soufflé a copycat? Every chef who serves beans with a red? They do not. They call him a chef.
U. says I should rise above it. U. wears a top hat to bed and keeps a shovel on his desk, so I am not sure he is in a position to lecture anyone about subtlety. He also says I am not as original as I think. I said neither is he. We have not spoken since lunch.
Tonight’s menu card, therefore, contains not a single bean. Let them try to call that a copy.
— B., your host
