Heartfelt apologies

Rayner is The Observer's restaurant critic; not too hard then to see why a fantasy about a restaurant critic gaining worldwide importance (and lots of cash and good chocolate) might have appealed.

Marc Basset's vitriolic reviews help drive a restaurateur to suicide; his apology is so heartfelt - and so enjoyable - that he winds up as the UN's Chief Apologist, saying sorry for everything from slavery to genocide.

Rayner's details are good (especially the food) and Basset is an entertainingly flawed do-gooder, so the frivolous nature of the whole exercise is hard to mind.