Daily Mail it's friday! quiz (Bookworm quiz of the year) 26/12

[londonlove]

Hi...I have been searching for my last answer for several days now and I think I have reached the end of my Googling possibilites so I'd really appreciate some help.
The question is in the section 'From The Mail'
no4: reviewing an authorised biography in April, Peter Lewis noted the subject's reputation for 'giving offence all round...'England is such a boring place one can do nothing else but work...in England people are very proud of being very stupid.'
Oh dear: Who is this charmer?
a) Jeffrey Archer
b) Kingsley Amis
c) Sir Vidia (V.S.) Naipaul

Many apologies if this has been answered before but I can't find any previous replies, and it is starting to drive me mad!

[boysinblue68]

londonlove - this was one of the easier clues/answers to find in this quiz - I found it by entering the quote in google and I didn't even have to search down the page - it was the first hit. But then again, I'm not into asking for someone else to answer a question for me - I'd rather have a guess or leave a blank space. The prize is not the most important thing in my eyes; it's the enjoyment of getting the answers under my own steam.

[swannbaker]

Or , to put it another way , Naipaul .

[boysinblue68]

swannbaker - or to put it another way, it was extremely easy to find using Google!

[londonlove]

thanks very much, swannbaker, it is really kind of you to give the answer, as I had been looking for several days 'on and off'.
I don't know why I couldn't find the answer by Googling, as I tried many combinations of the clue. Perhaps boysinblue could tell me the exact google terms he inserted, as I tried everything. Or is boysinblue just having a dig at my stupidity or lack of computer knowledge...rather unkind.

By the way, I don't want the prize...as I said in my question, it was just simply driving me mad and I was interested to know the answer. It wouldn't be feasible for me to go to Champney's at the moment anyway, even if that were my sort of thing.
.
Thanks again, swannbaker, I was interested to know the answer. I hope you have had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

btw boysinblue I wouldn't send in a guess or a blank space as I would think that would waste the time of the people involved in adminstrating the quiz, as well as the paper and stamp money involved. Who could possibly win a national prize with a guessed answer nowadays, with such high rates of reply?

[boysinblue68]

londonlove - it wasn't meant to be unkind - just a statement of fact. As I said in my earlier post, I entered the quote, to be precise "england is such a boring place one can do nothing". It will now be the second hit after your question on AB.

As far as not wanting the prize is concerned - that's fine, but you need to remember that others do and they will go to any length to get it.............despite the fact that the prize is not life changing.

I just want to answer the questions myself and pit my wits against like minded people who do not want to cheat - some hope in this day and age!

[londonlove]

boysinblue...that is exactly what I entered in my google search in the first place. As you can see, I can type pretty quickly (which is why I entered the Q in full) so it is nothing to me to enter entire questions in different wording.
Therefore, it would seem that maybe my computer isn't working correctly and that I should get it sorted out (at the side of my page it says 'bad requst (Invalid Verb)' and I have absolutely no idea what that means, nor do I care, in particular, cos I'm not a great comper. I only asked because I was interested in this question. Maybe it would have been more sensible of you to suggest this to me.

It is rather rude to call others 'cheats' , don't you think, as it is only a bit of light-hearted Christmas fun and in my own case, I usually do the quizzes to help out my elderly mum. I don't look down on Mail readers or quizzers/compers, but I am not even of the age to do them yet, so it's a bit weird that you are jumping down my throat and calling me a cheat and fraud just for a cr@ppy health farm break, when I'm not even in need of any beauty treatments, thank you!

And thanks, I managed all the other q's my mum couldn't do without Googling...I got them from my BRAIN, which is a lot better than you, by the sound of it. CHEAT!

[boysinblue68]

londonlove - if that's what you entered in your search, why couldn't you find the answer? I'm afraid I can't see that you can type quickly, but congratulations anyway. Entering the whole quote is not necessarily always the best option. I'm at a loss as to what I was supposed to suggest to you?

I can see no point in entering a quiz or puzzle, etc. by asking someone else to give you the answers. People would have to be very desperate to do that - but then look around on AB and you will see a lot of desperate people.

I did not jump down your throat, I merely made a point. By your own admission, you were not entering the quiz, but others will be and this answer has been freely given away. I also did not call you a cheat or fraud - it was a general comment aimed at the number of people who ask for answers and then claim they have completed a quiz themselves. I'm very pleased you don't need the beauty treatment - then again, I never said you did!

Perhaps you'd care to explain what age you need to be to do quizzes/comps? I'm sure many would be interested to know.