There has been some furore about a
"celebrity" academic (such status indicated by presence of a wikipaedia page!) recently accused of that most heinous crime, plagiarism. Whilst there has been much commentary (e.g. Arday the mascot; fairy tale over; police involvement & lawsuit threat; not to mention the (biased but justified) articles at Daily TelegraphTeleMail; editorial advocacy for equity), this series of events became of personal interest because of:
Perhaps the message is: despite the attractions of prestige, money, influence, etc.) be sceptical of those seeking to support your progress/promotion/whatever when you know your credentials do not justify such attainments...
The sad news reminded of the Levenson Inquiry (which consequently reminded that part two, investigation into police bribery by journalists and presumably their employers remains to be completed). The following quotation suffices:
The death of Jason Arday is tragic, and makes me so angry. Even the most casual observer could see he was a vulnerable fantasist. A number of people at a number of academic institutions have serious questions to answer. They put him into positions he was clearly not qualified for so they could have a black wunderkind to show off, they pushed him into the spotlight for their own benefit.
James Cleverly, X(itter) via 'The Independent'
Apparently, one should not judge a book by the cover; un-ashamedly not adhered in this case. A garish colour font design, did the trick. Nice prose, intriguing plot (if un-original) and lovely conclusion. There is some "rear matter blurb" about the author in terms of interview about motivation to write, but in truth, have not bothered to read it (yet?).
Similarly un-ashamed to write that years have elapsed since the last fiction book was read by yours truly. Perhaps this year's fantastic summer of repeated heatwaves was the reason for the return to the fiction book.
