Patrick Gale

Mr Gale falls between two stools. He writes neither with real satire nor about emotional truth. He is gently witty at times but his comedy lacks edge and the whole effect is bland and rather irritating. I suspect this irritation stems from the suspicion that he has a real talent which is submerged under a pose of camp sentimentality. It remains to see whether the pose will become the reality or whether something more substantial will appear.