On Amis and Amis

Ms Mushrooms kindly sent me a great article from the NY Times Magazine on Amis pere et fils. The article is filled with odd and fascinating anecdotes but this is the part that I can't get over.

Quote: Christopher Hitchens says he thinks that the process of [Kingsley's] self-ossification was pretty much complete by 1984. ''I remember that Martin, Kingsley and I all had dinner, and then we went to see 'Beverly Hills Cop,' '' he said a few weeks ago. ''Naturally, you couldn't go to anything French or Japanese or Polish. All through the movie Kingsley was laughing with what we assumed was pretend mirth, and afterward he announced, 'Yes, an absolutely flawless masterpiece.' Suddenly it became clear he wasn't joking and that he meant to defend the virtues of the film with absolute fidelity. It was a very striking moment -- the sense that the face had grown to fit the mask and that the pose had become himself.''

Imagine going to see Beverly Hills Cop and seeing Kingsley and Martin Amis with Christoper Hitchens in the audience. That would blow my mind. And the idea that Kingsley would laugh all through is beyond bizarre. "an absolutely flawless masterpiece". weird.