Books
Books and Arts
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Hero and villain
There is a story told of Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister speaking with his Treasurer, Bill Hayden. It is late…
‘Tell it not in the future’
Sam Leith finds the most sacred site of Ancient Greece still a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
Who knows wins
Anyone brought up as I was in a Daily Express household in the 1950s — there were approaching 11 million…
Småland
Småland’s wooden cottages with sunflowers lack nothing. Brightly-painted, small in the distance like stories, they call the eye on and…
In Fleet Street’s fast lane
In her early days on Fleet Street, Mary Kenny, as she herself admits, was cast as ‘the wild Irish girl’,…
Round and round the garden, again
Here’s a book co-authored by one dead woman and one living one. Sarah Raven is the second wife of Adam…
Those little grey cells in operation
In the first sentence of the first chapter of this book, Henry Marsh, a consultant brain surgeon, says, ‘I often…
The mask of truth
Siri Hustvedt’s new novel isn’t exactly an easy read — but the casual bookshop browser should be reassured that it’s…
Small wars in academe
It’s a misleading title, because there is nothing unexpected about Professor Carey, in any sense. He doesn’t turn up to…
In deep water
Karl Ove Knausgaard was eight months old when his family moved to the island of Tromøya; he left it aged…
They do it with mirrors
If ever there was a time to write a book about self-portraits, this must be it. ‘Past interest in the…
Cracking up
The troubles of Richard Pryor’s life are well known — from his childhood in a brothel to his self-immolation via…
Books and Arts
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Cracking up
The troubles of Richard Pryor’s life are well known — from his childhood in a brothel to his self-immolation via…
Småland
Småland’s wooden cottages with sunflowers lack nothing. Brightly-painted, small in the distance like stories, they call the eye on and…
Cracking up
The troubles of Richard Pryor’s life are well known — from his childhood in a brothel to his self-immolation via…
Småland
Småland’s wooden cottages with sunflowers lack nothing. Brightly-painted, small in the distance like stories, they call the eye on and…
Delhi’s underbelly
India’s vast polluted capital, where brutality, corruption and ruthless self-seeking are endemic, could be the blueprint of the future, says Peter Parker
Decades of grievances
Historians have generally not been kind in their assessment of Britain’s first two Stuart kings. Their political skills are regarded…
Adventures in gay Paree
In his preface to The Joy of Gay Sex (revised and expanded third edition), Edmund White praises the ‘kinkier’ aspects…
Lambs to the slaughter
In his new novel, Children of Paradise, Fred D’Aguiar, a British-Guyanese writer, returns to the Jonestown massacre, previously the subject…
Licence to talk dirty
There aren’t many jobs that allow a nice middle-class Jewish boy to say ‘fuck’ in front of his parents. But…
A hidden gem
One of the many charms of this book is its sheer unexpectedness, which makes it hard to review, for to…
One queen, cut by two others
Queen Victoria was the inventor of official royal biography. It was she who commissioned the monumental five-volume life of Prince…
