Chris Thurman reviews Alex Smith's literary example of a sub-sub-genre -- South African language teachers in China.

For the Sake of Silence (in which the narrator frequently meditates on the undesirability of words) extends to 550 pages.

Novelists and reviewers can shape the industry by producing work for mass appeal as well as the serious-minded, argues Chris Thurman.

Scholars may not be among the truly exploited, but they are undervalued, writes Chris Thurman

Novelists and reviewers can shape the industry by producing work for mass appeal as well as the serious-minded, argues Chris Thurman.

Chris Thurman reviews Alex Smith's literary example of a sub-sub-genre -- South African language teachers in China.

For the Sake of Silence (in which the narrator frequently meditates on the undesirability of words) extends to 550 pages.

Scholars may not be among the truly exploited, but they are undervalued, writes Chris Thurman