Has Daisy Dunn chosen the wrong Pliny to write about?
I couldn’t help thinking, as I read this book, of an old story, vaguely recalled from English A-level classes, about…
The great anti-hero of our time: Diary of a Somebody, by Brian Bilston, reviewed
Brian Bilston’s life is summed up perfectly by the incident with his neighbour’s dog. The annoying Mrs McNulty comes round…
The rollicking adventures of a real-life female sleuth
Susannah Stapleton’s erudite but hugely entertaining debut is a true-life detective story about the quest for a true-life detective. A…
As long as poverty and maritime trade exist, so will piracy
Western attitudes to piracy have dripped with hubris. In his classic history of 1932, Philip Gosse confidently argued that European…
Moby — from teetotal vegan to promiscuous party monster
In 2002 I flew to New York to interview the dance music producer whose 1999 release Play remains the bestselling…
Why has British art had such a fascination with fire?
‘Playing God is indeed playing with fire,’ observed Ronald Dworkin. ‘But that is what we mortals have done since Prometheus,…
Way more fun than the media would have us believe: The Spice Girls tour reviewed
If you’ve paid even passing attention to early reports of the Spice Girls comeback tour, you will be aware of…
Makes you wonder if you’ve got drunk without noticing: Wild Bill reviewed
Usually, the return of Killing Eve would be pretty much guaranteed to provide the most unconventional, rule-busting TV programme of…
Are the Dead Ringers audience told to laugh?
Nine on a Thursday morning is University Hour for those of us who don’t commute to an office every day.…
Angry, cold, self-centred, opaque, disconnected and brutalising: Bronx Gothic reviewed
Sometimes it’s hard to describe a play without appearing to defame the writer, the performer and the theatre responsible for…
There is a jewel of a painting at Gagosian’s Francis Bacon show
‘It is no easier to make a good painting,’ wrote Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo, than it is…
Where was the sex? Opera Holland Park’s Manon Lescaut reviewed
Where was the desire, the frisson, the flicker of attraction? Hell, where was the sex? I ask because a week…
Gripping and heartbreaking but I wanted to know more: Diego Maradona reviewed
Diego Maradona, Asif Kapadia’s take on the poor boy from the slums of Buenos Aires who became a footballing god,…
Easily the best thing I’ve seen at the Grange Festival: Falstaff reviewed
‘Tutto nel mondo e burla’ sings the company at the end of Verdi’s Falstaff — ‘All the world’s a joke’…
Boris is the only one who can save the Tories
A lady once offered to go to bed with me if I could ensure that she would write The Spectator’s…
The joy of my local paper
As usual I go downstairs at five o’clock in the morning and into the dining room, which now serves as…
My planning permission hell
When is planning permission for four loft windows actually planning permission for two? Or simultaneously vice versa? It’s a very…
Bridge
Bridge is such a complex, multi-layered game that a single hand can be approached in myriad ways, depending on the…
Morse and Lewis
The Isle of Lewis chess pieces are one of the proudest possessions of the British Museum and also the National Museum…
no. 558
White to play. This position is a variation from Ding Liren-So, Stavanger 2019. White could continue the attack with 1…
Fan mail
In Competition No. 3102 you were invited to submit a fan letter from one well-known person from the field of…
2412: Transponders
It is the centenary of a daring feat. Unclued lights (two of two words) include two surnames, two locations (two…
to 2409: Crosswords
The unclued lights are all hybrid animals whose names are formed by combining the names of the two original animals.…
It’s a scandal that the BBC can still tax anyone who owns a TV
If I were a pensioner, I’d be a bit miffed by the BBC’s decision to end the policy of giving…
