Fleur Macdonald 
Cult fiction – Amity and Sorrow by Peggy Riley
There’s an attraction, certainly, in joining a cult. Not a Sheryl Sandberg working women type cult but a good old fashioned we’re all in it together wearing hemp skirts type… Continue reading
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The Gamal by Ciarán Collins – review
My editor told me to read this book and write this review. Six hundred words, he said. Just like the psychiatrist Dr. Quinn instructed Charlie, the protagonist of said book,… Continue reading
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Review – Invisible Romans, by Robert Knapp
It’s tempting to reduce the Roman Empire to a roll call of famous men and their infamous deeds. The Republic toppled with Caesar on the steps of the senate; freedom… Continue reading
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What’s love got to do with it?
In her Times column on Monday (£), Libby Purves valiantly attempted to fit together two things that were obviously on her mind. Discussing Pride and Prejudice, which is 200 years… Continue reading
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The Galactic Empire of Amazon
I think that most people working in publishing think they’re involved in some giant role playing game. Rather than simply running around muddy fields on a Saturday, dressed in tin… Continue reading
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Jobs for the girls
Unless you’re a twenty-something year old woman, you probably have no idea who Lena Dunham is. Well you will soon. Until now Dunham’s cult followers have been downloading her HBO… Continue reading
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Richard Millet and the nihilism of multiculturalism
It’s the last day of banned book week but perhaps we should spare a thought for banned editors. An editor at Éditions Gallimard, who worked on Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly… Continue reading
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Nina Bawden dies age 87
Author of classic children’s novel Carrie’s War and the Booker shortlisted Circles of Deceit, Nina Bawden has died today aged 87. Apart from writing over forty novels for adults and children,… Continue reading
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Across the literary pages: Jeanette Winterson
The fanfaronade for Ian McEwan’s latest book Sweet Tooth, a seventies spy novel tantalisingly based on his own life and featuring a cameo from Martin Amis, has begun ahead of… Continue reading
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Blast from the past: The Teleportation Accident reviewed
He’d probably agree with Edward Gibbon’s assessment of history as ‘little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind’ but Ned Beauman’s instinct as to why… Continue reading
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Across the literary pages: Will Self special
The inclusion of Will Self on the Booker long list was like a flashing neon sign pointing towards ‘Serious Literature’ and away from last year’s much criticised populism. In a… Continue reading
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All-American heroes
Whatever Mitt might think, if there’s one thing that makes us proud to be British, it’s the fact we’re not American. Alright, it’s true we don’t have a black president… Continue reading
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Across the literary pages: Pankaj Mishra
An easy, sure-fire way of generating a bit of publicity is picking a fight with a provocative public intellectual. Rather than criticising Bernard-Henri Lévy’s blow-dry, or kicking David Starkey in either… Continue reading
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Across the literary pages
Any idea what an Ouroboros is? It’s not the name of the cloud hanging over London at the moment but, according to Will Wilkinson, in his review of Joseph Stiglitz’s… Continue reading
1 CommentWe need to talk about Jacob, and his dad
No matter what anyone might say, no one ever really likes other people’s children. Now, it seems, we’re not even sure if we like our own. Culturally, children became a… Continue reading
3 CommentsThe importance of sex
Last time I made an off the cuff comment calling a book chick lit, I realised the skill involved in making an apology sound genuine, rehabilitating an entire literary genre… Continue reading
1 CommentFunny women
The disappointment of second place at the Dionysiac festival might have been easier to bear had Sophocles known his Oedipus would eventually give credibility to a slew of neuroses and… Continue reading
1 CommentShelf Life: Sue Townsend
A last minute cancellation by Adrian Mole meant that Sue Townsend had to step in to answer this week’s Shelf Life questions. She tells us which books she read as… Continue reading
2 CommentsShelf Life: Alex James
More farm life than park life, the only cheese Alex James now produces is in his dairy. He lets us in on which books he’s reading in his country house,… Continue reading
3 CommentsA missable after-party
There’s one problem with book reviewing these days. No, it’s nothing to do with an industry that’s cosier than Joseph Fritzl’s cellar or columns that are dropping inches faster than… Continue reading
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