Yvonne and I wrote the first edition of “Know the Game: Mah-Jong” thirty years ago now, and it’s coming up to its 3rd edition and over half a million sales. But who has bought it? I’ve hardly met anyone else who plays Mah-Jong except my sister-in-law Brenda.

With the release of Ang Lee’s film “Lust, Caution” Mah-Jong has taken on a new light. Sadly this was not shed on the game itself, and while I went to see the film for its frank, explicit Mah-Jong scenes, I found I became distracted by plot elements and inconsistencies. Therefore there was no real point in going to see this film, despite its acrobatic, lurid and highly creative sex marathons and public executions.

‘Lust, Caution’ was set in the 1940s. Ang Lee is famous for creating an immaculate world in his movies, a flawless reconstruction of the society of the time, so it came as a surprise to me when a 2007 London black cab, the TX-4, rolled through a couple of scenes. I kept expecting it to burst into flames.

If they could sneak in a London cab, they could just as easily have planted copies of “Know The Game: Mah-Jong”, by Gwyn Headley and Yvonne Seeley, just published by A & C Black, ISBN 978 0 7136 8951 8, price £6.99.

The perfect Christmas present.

Know The Game: Mah-Jong

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