Book, far from brilliant, cut (7)
I believe the answer is:
matthew
'book far' is the definition.
'matthew' can be an answer for 'book' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'far' bit.
'brilliant cut' is the wordplay.
'brilliant' becomes 'matt' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cut' becomes 'hew' (hew can mean to chop or cut).
'matt'+'hew'='MATTHEW'
'from' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for matthew that I've seen before include "Generally accepted author of the first Gospel" , "Apostle to whom the first Gospel is ascribed" , "Gospel-writer" , "- Arnold, English poet" , "Gospel writer" .)