


When a polite “regards” won’t quite cover it, Shakespeare has something rather more pointed. “A plague on both your houses” is Mercutio’s furious verdict in Romeo & Juliet, and an excellent companion for a reader who enjoys a little theatrical outrage.
Keep this pen beside your notebook for marginal notes, sudden ideas and complaints best left in a first draft. Not every disagreement needs a tragic ending. Sometimes a firmly worded list will do.