I've had to say no to a unique launch party for a celebrity biography on Thursday (out of the country). It's unique because the average age of the invitees is somewhere in the eighties and the main tipple will be tea. And it's unique because this celebrity biography is about a not very famous person who deserves to be more famous as opposed to the normal book about a famous person who has little to say and not much talent.

The biographee is Alice Herz Sommer (do listen to this Woman's Hour interview) and the book is A Garden of Eden in Hell.

Alice was born in 1903 (work it out) and is still going strong. She suffered in a Nazi concentration camp but continued to play piano throughout the ordeal. She is still playing today and you can purchase a CD of her music from reinhard.piechocki@t.online.de .

I doubt that sales of this book will exceed those of Wayne Rooney, Jordan et al but somehow I feel it's a little more deserving.

Yesterday saw the annual Science v Nature cricket match which Nature duly won. If only the England cricket team were as reliable. Incidentally, Nature took the first three wickets with the first three balls of the Science innings. Is that one for next year's Wisden?