Over the next two weeks, the e-mail note traveled from one disbelieving reader to the next, sometimes affixed with disapproving notes: "This is appalling," read one.
This, I would hope, would be an appalling read to anyone in the 21st century, considering the battles fought and won as well as those fought and lost against race in this country.
Plus, as a literary novelist, I know that my vocation amounts to a vastly time-intensive hobby and any work that might subsidise its financial pointlessness and huge research lead times (did I mention my appalling bedtime reading list?) is to be grabbed with both hands until it squeaks.
It is appalling to read of the arrogance of this administration in its zeal to convert America to its economic and social policies.
While I have long suspected that Trump's popularity with many voters is due in part to the way he appeals to racists and xenophobes, it was appalling to read the quotes from leaders in America's burgeoning white-supremacist movement, in which they declare their support for his Presidential campaign.
If it's appalling to read of the "gratitude" of the people of Cadeby to the King that day – somehow he brought himself to shake hands with men whose faces were still black with dust – it's even grimmer to read the thank you he wrote to Fitzwilliam once he'd returned south.
It was terrific to see "Homeland" win as best TV drama and Claire Danes win as best actress for the show; and "Game of Thrones" actor Peter Dinklage showed a great deal of class by using his speech to make a point about an appalling situation (read more about that here).
It is worth reading even if you think you know this appalling record already, if only for the vehemence and urgency of Mr Amis's prose.
If you have access to their subscription website, it is a piece I recommend reading despite the appalling headline pun.
If you've been reading about the appalling inadequacy of the Toxic Substances Control Act or TSCA (such as here and here), you already know the answer to that question: Not well at all.
