Hi carruthers, thanks for answering my question - also agree about the slightly bizarre assumption that Booker winning prose is going to be in evidence on a mumsnet thread...
I had a personal reason for asking how you deal with endorsement requests (if you don't want to give one) as I'm about to go on submission with my novel and my agent suggested I ask an acquaintance who is a successful novelist for one (which is obviously a cringe inducingly awful thing to be asked to do). Anyway, she agreed with apparent enthusiasm but after prodding at around 4 weeks (length of time vaguely suggested initially) I got the reply that it was 'working its way to the top' (of a mountain apparently) and she'd read ASAP (with profuse apologies).
I accepted this at face value but having read your eerily similar excuse I am now wondering if I've naively missed some accepted industry code for 'sorry, didn't really like it but I don't want to say'??
The ridiculous thing is, of course I know asking for an endorsement doesn't mean you're going to get one - I'd be (obviously disappointed but) perfectly accepting if someone said it just wasn't their thing, sorry. It would be much better than being kept hanging with vague promises so why the need to lie/ dissemble?
Sorry for long missive, it's now bugging me - of course my partner has pointed out it's just what a genuine person would say too therefore impossible to tell....