Memoir
The Exiles Return by Elisabeth de Waal – review
The Exiles Return has been published as a beautiful Persephone Book, with smart dove-grey covers and a riotously colourful endpaper. Before this glorious incarnation, it existed for many years as… Continue reading
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Rifleman by Victor Gregg is a book you ought to read
I live in New York and until this month I had never heard of Victor Gregg, the World War II veteran whose 2011 memoir, Rifleman, was hailed as possibly the… Continue reading
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Craig Raine: Fiction is franker
Issue 39 of Areté starts with the words “MEMOIR ISSUE” on the front cover. It is dedicated to writing which remembers its author. Hence we get essays on Proust; Art… Continue reading
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War is not to be envied
Donald Anderson is a former US Air Force Colonel and current professor of English Literature at the US Air Force Academy. His new book, Gathering Noise from my Life: A… Continue reading
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Unmastered: A book on desire, most difficult to tell (…or read)
Among the new words which entered the English Dictionary last year was ‘overshare’, def: ‘to reveal an inappropriate amount of detail about one’s personal life’. If that detail pertains to… Continue reading
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Peter O’Toole’s new beginning
‘It is time for me to chuck in the sponge,’ said Peter O’Toole with characteristic singularity. The 79-year-old has announced his retirement from stage and screen, after a career that… Continue reading
2 CommentsThere was more to Blair than a winning smile
Following Sir Christopher Meyer’s review of George Bush’s Decision Points, here is the other half of the double act. The closest I’ve come to meeting Tony Blair was knocking into… Continue reading
60 CommentsSir Christopher Meyer reviews George Bush’s memoirs
Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British Ambassador to the United States, has reviewed George Bush’s biography for the latest issue of The Spectator. We’ve pasted his entire review below, for… Continue reading
22 CommentsIs Laws writing himself out of a return to government?
A noteworthy snippet in Andrew Pierce’s column this morning: "[David Laws] is hard at work on a book. The title – 22 Days In May – is hardly likely to… Continue reading
6 CommentsBlair pulls out of book launch
It is profoundly depressing that Tony Blair has had to pull out of his London book signing. Whatever you think of Blair, he is a man who led his party… Continue reading
42 Comments"The worst-written memoir ever twittered by a serious politician"
That’s how Bruce Anderson sums up Tony Blair’s book in a caustic piece for the magazine. Here’s the whole review for the benefit of CoffeeHousers: ‘It is bizarre. As he… Continue reading
30 CommentsTony Blair, freelance statesman
Say what you like about Blair, but he is something of a political entrepreneur. He detects a gap in the market and fills it: he did with New Labour in… Continue reading
39 CommentsBlair: the sex scenes
Not just a Prime Minister, not just a global statesman, in A Journey Tony Blair also demonstrates he knows how to treat a girl: CHERIE: "I DEVOURED HER LOVE" "…that… Continue reading
56 CommentsThe Mirror backs ‘The Special One’
The ballot has opened and the Mirror has joined the mounting chorus in favour of David Miliband. They say of Miliband: ‘We believe he has the intellect, talent and experience… Continue reading
10 CommentsLabour holds its breath for the Dark Lord’s memoir
Peter Mandelson’s memoirs are out in just over a week. Despite being one of the last off the stage, Mandelson has beaten his colleagues to the first full account of… Continue reading
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