Editorial: A different kind of celebration

In this age of celebrity, the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge might have hoped that her instant, Royal Wedding-related renown would be enough to guarantee the success of any book to which she gave her name. Penguin certainly thought so, reportedly forking out a whopping £400,000 advance for Pippa Middleton's collection of party-planning tips.

How wrong they were. Celebrate sold a bare 2,000 copies in its first week and, beset by criticism, is now plummeting down the bestseller list so fast that Amazon is touting it for less than half its original price.

Notwithstanding the chagrin of both Ms Middleton and her publisher, such poor sales are not all bad news. They are, after all, one in the eye for those that lament the inexorable dumbing down of British reading habits. There are, it would appear, still limits; and that must surely be something to celebrate.