An author's cat-and-mouse games

Invisible By Paul Auster Faber & Faber, 308pp, $32.99 Reviewed by Andrew Riemer

Column 8

"I just heard my first Christmas carol today on Friday while shopping in Church Street Mall, Parramatta," reports an irritated Sue Norris, of Springwood. "Can anyone beat this? If so, you have my deepest sympathy. It was Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and you can all sing it in your heads now €“ I don't see why I should suffer alone!" In a similar vein, Jan Ritchie, of Balgowlah Heights, writes: "Tonight we heard the first cicada chorus of this spring. We always expect to hear them about now, but are puzzled that invariably their first singing is at exactly at 10 to eight, to the extent that my father christened them the '10-to-eighters'." Can readers throw more light on this?

Column 8

"I disagree with Jonathan Rubens regarding 'sixes and sevens'," says Brian Quill, of Liverpool (Column 8, since Saturday). "'Sixes and sevens' was used by Chaucer in 1374, more than a century before the founding of the Merchant Taylors' and Skinners' Livery companies. The saying is thought to have originated in the game of dice in the 14th century. I await a more definitive origin."

Q and A

Q Email in Vista Windows Mail disappears after opening it. If I want to read a message a second time, I cannot find it. Could you help?

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