Article: 'I've been on TV too often, wearing too many funny hats, to stand on dignity'; The Andrew Billen Interview.

Byline: ANDREW BILLEN

Clive James's new book may bestride the intellectual mountain tops, but if he is not always taken seriously, he says he has only himself to blame IT would be stupid not to feel a little nervous before meeting Clive James, madness if you 've just read the 40 new essays he is about to publish. His erudition hikes across intellectual mountain ranges:Shakespeare to Fellini, Bertrand Russell to George Russell, Russia to Japan.

Just when you think you are keeping up, he winds you by saying:"Some of the books I buy will have to wait until I can read the languages they are written in "- and he already reads Italian, French,Spanish, German, ...

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