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</html><description>This is the arresting title of David Lodge&#x2019;s new book, which I have just finished reading. Often very funny indeed, it tells the poignant story of a retired professor of linguistics, Desmond Bates, who is growing deaf and it recounts his adventures in coping with the affliction, and, often unsuccessfully, in trying to conceal the fact from others. He gets involved in conversations and situations that, through misunderstandings, quickly get out of control , as he struggles to cope with the mental confusion of his elderly father, the commercial enterprise of his achieving wife and the unwelcome attentions of a</description></oembed>
