Publishing News

So the latest Big Thing - or Grande Chose - in book publishing is colouring books for adults, which are suddenly selling like hot cakes in France. They're even buying good honest British colouring books and repcackaging them with the magic words 'Art Therapy' and 'Anti-Stress' - et voila, encore un bestseller! French women, who seem to be among the most stressed and depression-prone on Earth (perhaps as result of having to deal with French men), are finding great solace in colouring in the outline pictures and creating their own little works of art, or at least craft. I'm tempted to identify this trend - which could well be heading our way, I wouldn't be surprised - as yet more evidence of the infantilisation of our culture. But on the other hand, I really rather fancy the idea. Purely as therapy, you understand...