This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter.

Long known for exposing venality, corruption and incompetence in government, public institutions and private companies, Private Eye also offers astute and insightful book reviews.

The current edition turns its attention to Alive In The Merciful Country, the latest novel by garlanded Scottish author AL Kennedy. It’s a sort-of psychological thriller which also functions as a state-of-the-nation address.

It’s a decent enough review, but note the last sentence: “Once again, what with all the ruminating and the sly, ironic tone, there lurks a suspicion that the novel is possibly not her [Kennedy’s] natural medium and what we really have here is an essayist manqué.”

Having had the pleasure of talking to Ms Kennedy about Alive In The Merciful Country, a conversation which did regularly delve into subjects such as politics and nationalism, I half agree with the sentiment. She would make an excellent essayist, though not perhaps at the expense of novel writing.

But here’s the thing – who reads essays these days? The best seller lists aren’t exactly groaning with essay collections. In fact if even an established author went to a publisher proposing such an undertaking, I suspect they’d be handed a bar of Imperial Leather and told to wash out their mouth.

Essays are a dirty word, even in a world which publishes over two million books a year, the majority non-fiction. They smack too much of the school-room, of something that isn’t fun and isn’t good for you, even if........

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