Joan Didion: The 1980s & 90s (PART ONE)
re-reading Joan Didion for the first time in my life
Tag: Book Review
Queen Mob’s Teahouse: Teh Book edited by Russell Bennetts
some inevitably biased hagiography
Now, Now, Louison by Jean Frémon
an enjoyable but intellectually presumptive novella
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
impressive, emotive, historical
Bad Boy Poet by Scott Manley Hadley
Review by L. Tumbleweed Parker. CW: ableist language
The First Day by Phil Harrison
mainstream literary fiction that I very nearly love
Trump & Me by Mark Singer
Trump cannot and will not be ignored.
A Shorter Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, ed. Anthony Burgess
Can Burgess turn this tough novel into a frothy paperback? No.
On translation and Quiet Flows the Una by Faruk Šehić
Gorgeous Bosnian novel and my thoughts on the role of translators
On Dressing Down & The Tragedy of Fidel Castro
A book that makes big promises without sufficient returns…
Zone by Mathias Enard
pleasure is a lightening bolt that leaves no trace
On a Chinese Screen by W. Somerset Maugham
Very Colonial travel writing from author of The Painted Veil
Love Notes to Men Who Don’t Read by North Morgan
Absolutely knock out novel about the gay bro scene.
Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
Fantastic Mr Fox is an ode to adventure capitalism. My life is an ode to wine.
100 Haikus about Haemorrhoid Cream by Lewis Parker & Friends
I met a stranger off the internet and he gave it to me.
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Can I write about writing about race without discussing race? No.
One of Us by Åsne Seierstad
A beautiful book about a horrible thing.
I Write Self-Involved Book Review For Another Site
I read and discuss a book about dickhead hipster bartenders, just weeks after stopping being one.
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
In America alone, 281 pounds of pig shit is produced for every one person per year. I don’t know if that’s a lot as I don’t know what a pound is.
The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz
Have you ever had a dream? Have you ever dreamt a day, a week, a month, a year? Have youContinue Reading
Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume
I don’t know where this book came from. I know I bought it, I’m pretty certain I went out ofContinue Reading
The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner
A lot of people don’t read poetry. A lot of people who read a lot of books, don’t read poetry. AContinue Reading
On the Value of Literature by Karl Ove Knausgaard
What is the point of literature? What is the point of life? Karl Ove Knausgaard, author of the hugely acclaimed MyContinue Reading
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming
This is my first blog post in a while, and even then it’s still happening a little earlier than expected.Continue Reading
Recovery by John Berryman
Long before James Frey was breaking Oprah Winfrey’s fragile heart by fictionalising his time in addiction therapy and the behaviourContinue Reading
Martin John by Anakana Schofield
I’ve accidentally grown a goatee and as a result of this I now look like a sex pervert*. This wasContinue Reading
The Ongoing Moment: A Book About Photographs by Geoff Dyer
Well, as some of you may be aware, I’m off having adventures. Yes, again. After an 18 month stint inContinue Reading
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
When I read the first volume of Elena Ferrante’s lauded Neapolitan Novels series, many of the conversations being had about itContinue Reading
The Trip to Echo Spring by Olivia Laing
I’m an abyss filling up with regret and alcohol at equal measure, like a really wet martini.
Some Rain Must Fall: My Struggle Book Five by Karl Ove Knausgaard
It’s taken me a few more days than I’d hoped, but I’ve just finished reading the fifth book of KarlContinue Reading
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Many people have told me that The Waves is Virginia Woolf’s best work. Many people have told me I should readContinue Reading
Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom: A Russian Folktale by Laura Engelstein
You are in a wooden hut in the depths of Siberia, thousands of miles from the lands of your ancestors.Continue Reading
You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] by Andrew Hankinson
My new puppy hasn’t been very well. I’ve spent the day taking him to the vets and watching him sleep,Continue Reading
But You Did Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens
I haven’t cried this much at a book in a while. I haven’t cried this much at a non-fiction bookContinue Reading
Zona by Geoff Dyer
I’m on a flight, heading eastwards for 36 hours in Bucharest[1]. Flying out of Luton at 10pm on a MondayContinue Reading
The Devil in the Flesh by Raymond Radiguet
It is 1230am on a Friday night, I am (which is very rare for me) not at work, my girlfriendContinue Reading
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Over the last month, Don Quixote has travelled a huge amount with me. He was with me for the tailContinue Reading
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Many months ago, back when I had a regular social life, a friend of mine who works in publishing gaveContinue Reading
Othello by William Shakespeare
About two months ago I spent a week in Finland, driving through the countryside from flea market to charity shopContinue Reading
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
This is the 300th book review I have posted on this blog*, and it seems appropriate that its focus is aContinue Reading
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
fuck So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. fuck fuck fuck fuck fuckContinue Reading
The Life of a Stupid Man by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
I read another one of those cute Penguin Little Black Classics, this one a collection of three short stories byContinue Reading
Flaubert in Egypt by Gustave Flaubert (kind of)*
Flaubert in Egypt is ostensibly (though it isn’t) a book written by Gustave Flaubert about his hedonistic travels through EgyptContinue Reading
How I Escaped My Certain Fate by Stewart Lee
During the Summer I crossed a line in the sand I scratched out a long time ago and, accepting mortality andContinue Reading
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
I’ve been reading a massive book* since I got back from my holiday last month, and have only just reached its end.Continue Reading
Notes on Suicide by Simon Critchley
Slowly, the land recedes. I am writing this on a ferry, pushing its way across the surprisingly flat Bay (orContinue Reading
Red Doc> by Anne Carson
It’s been a while since I’ve read any poetry. Life, I find, often gets in the way. Life, which isn’tContinue Reading
Anglo-English Attitudes by Geoff Dyer
I’m writing this on my phone, stood in the queue at the Apple Store where I’ve gone to replace myContinue Reading
¡Tequila!: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico by Marie Sarita Gaytán
Marie Sarita Gaytán is an American academic (an Assistant Professor of Sociology) and ¡Tequila!: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico is anContinue Reading
Triumph Of The Now 