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Sat 03 Mar 2007Lists of the eliteLiterary CriticismA professor at the University of Paris has recently had an unusual popular success with the publication of a book in which he admits to the world the shocking gaps in his own literary education and proffers advice to readers on how they too can pass themselves off in the fashionable world with the minimum of dull page-turning labour.Comment Parler des Livres que l'on n'a Pas Lus? (How to talk about books you haven't read), by Pierre Bayard, sounds like a splendid wheeze, which could be a boon not just to the middle-class partygoer but also of considerable value to the professional reviewer ("Master these simple golden rules and treble your income overnight!").