The Prime Minister tries to set the record straight on that fateful night in his personal statement to the Speaker of the House.

(from Speaking With The Angel)

Nice. This Robert Harris guy has just the right steadiness of hand to make this silly story work. Official versions of grandly embarassing events, an established genre at this point, require a firm touch to keep things from straying too far into farce. This is all about a guy making stupid mistakes in a moment of weakness and trying to save face at every turn. It was adventurous and winding like a movie, but that format wouldn’t have much place for the dwindling dignity of the narrator, nor would it forgive his unexplainable actions, and without those things this would be a farce. As a story it is comfortable and believable and hilarious.

“It’s none of my business, but don’t you think he’s due for a sorting, the way he’s going on?”