Books
A soothing Negroni for la dolce vita
The first draft of the famous story was called ‘A Martini as Big as the Ritz’. That’s not true, but…
Jonathan Coe’s raucous social satire smoulders with anger behind the fun
When Rachel, one of the unreliable narrators of Number 11, wants to ‘go back to the very beginning’, she starts…
An elegy for Concorde, the most beautiful airliner of all time, that died aged 27
The Concorde experience, a fleeting indulgence in luxurious grandiosity, began each day with circumvention of the hugger-mugger of the hoi…
Sic transit: the buildings we treasure most are often the ones we’ve never seen
Here are two books which have almost nothing in common: form, function, source material, methodology, all utterly different. The surprise…
The best new cook books include recipes for Toad-in-the-hole, braised Pilot Whale and seal soup
Timing is everything, and few cookbooks come at an apter moment than Mamushka (Mitchell Beazley, £25) by the excellently named…
He knew he was right
A highlight of this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival was the Rough Magic Theatre Company’s production of The Train, a musical…
Loneliness and the love of friends
When Hugh and Mirabel Cecil’s book In Search of Rex Whistler was published in 2012, the late Brian Sewell reviewed…
Life in the chain gang
In 2004, French police officers searching the home of the professional cyclist David Millar found some syringes and empty phials…
Too much gush
The cover of Edna O’Brien’s 17th novel sports a handsome quote from Philip Roth: ‘The great Edna O’Brien has written…
Celebrity lives
I learned from this little lot that if one has read The Diary of a Nobody, then one can derive…
Books and arts opener
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The best British short stories — from Daniel Defoe to Zadie Smith
In this handsome two-volume anthology, Philip Hensher convincingly establishes himself as a world authority on the short story, says Ian Sansom
From the Big Smoke to the Big Choke
‘A foggy day in London town,’ croons Fred Astaire in the 1937 musical comedy A Damsel in Distress, puffing nonchalantly…
Where would America be without Gloria Steinem?, asks Carmen Callil
This is a book written by a most admirable woman, which is nevertheless — with some rare and excellent exceptions…
Umberto Eco really tries our patience
Colonna, the protagonist of Umberto Eco’s latest novel, is the first to admit he is a loser. A middle-aged literary…
Designing the swimming car, the Doodlebug and the Panzer tank was all in a day’s work for Ferdinand Porsche
The aggressive character of the famous German sports car, in a sort of sympathetic magic, often transfers itself to owner-drivers.…
When escape to the sun — or even to Devon — goes horribly wrong
A character in Sophie Hannah’s A Game for All the Family (Hodder, £14.99, pp. 432) presents a theory: ‘Mysteries are…
Warning: this book only contains strong language
Dan Marshall, the author of this memoir, loves to swear. ‘It’s very difficult for me to write a sentence without…
A chronic case of mass hysteria
There have been many books devoted to the terrible events that took place in the small rural community of Salem…
Frank’s world
‘He never went away. All those other things that we thought were here to stay, they did go away. But…
To the ends of the earth
What’s in a name? The identity of the author offers a clue to one of the themes of this intriguing…
Discover your inner nerd
There’s a curious thing about the bowling green in my Suffolk village. The footpath running alongside it is on a…
Through the eyes of spies
Spying is a branch of philosophy, although you would never guess it from that expression on Daniel Craig’s face. Its…
Porridge Season
Tuesday morning. The Chopin of golden syrup is going to perform his Breakfast Fantaisie for teaspoon and dessertspoon. Such a…
The Wolves of Memory
Loping through thick snow, fur matted with ice, they have lost the trace that led them long ago from a…
