AN Wilson on his often fraught dining experiences at the 'high tables' of Oxford colleges, and 'dingeing' academia
There’s often great truth in a misprint. A donnish reviewer of a recent book of mine seized on some typo as evidence that my excellent editors had not been doing their work properly. For example, I had spoken of ‘dingeing’ in Oxford colleges. He envisaged me being ribbed by my hosts the next time I dined at High Table. I still have friends who are academics, but I do not envy them. And the typo – dingeing for dinging – made me realise that I have never missed institutional university life. For seven years of my young adulthood, seven years largely wasted as the poet might say, I taught at two Oxford colleges, and was permitted to eat at their high tables. Those who do not eat in colleges might suppose that the conversation is sharp and witty and crammed with intellectual stimulation. This is because they have read about...
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