Bloody Men (sorry)
So the story of the moment seems to be that old chestnut, the fact that men only read men. This has bothered me for a while – because it rings pretty true. I can count the books by women I’ve read on...
View ArticleLine of Buffoons, Homophobes & Fools
Recently, the peerless Book Coolie mentioned Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty, winner of last year’s Booker, and this excellent review by Andrew Anthony. I am a great fan of Hollinghurst, from...
View ArticleThose who begin by burning books…
The picture on the left comes from It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley, a guide to ‘Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health’ for kids, one of the books on the...
View Article“Just a bunch of Paki’s”?
My last-but-one post, which mentioned Gautam Malkani’s forthcoming Londonstani, excited some comment. Not least amongst these was www.irvinewelsh.com, which linked it to this Independent article which...
View ArticleHowlings in favour of Cussler
Another dispatch from the newspaper inside my head: It’s impressive that anybody at all has exercised their critical attention on an instance of Clive Cussler’s apparent moral inattention. It’s not...
View ArticleThe great illusion, Kinema
As is becoming startlingly common, STML stumbled back from the Fullback halfway through tonight’s Front Row, right in the middle of an interesting disquisition from Thriller writer Robert Crais. The...
View ArticleJack the Stripper: Paul did it
While we are semi-officially still on our annual August hiatus (try saying that with a mouthful of candy floss), we did appreciate a happy confluence of interests in Saturday’s Grauniad: Chris Petit’s...
View ArticleChronicle of a death foretold
There’s been a bit of a creative block in these parts for a while. Half-formed thoughts. Unfinished articles. Sweaty, 5am thinking jags. Please ignore the elephant in the corner. He’s not really there....
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