Comic effect
Borag Thungg, Earthlets! If those words mean something to you, then congratulations — you are leading a good life. If…
Comic effect
Borag Thungg, Earthlets! If those words mean something to you, then congratulations — you are leading a good life. If…
Let’s talk about sex
What does it take to become a prostitute? Youth, beauty, courage, sexual allure, a love of money, a need for…
Let’s talk about sex
What does it take to become a prostitute? Youth, beauty, courage, sexual allure, a love of money, a need for…
Tough love
Frank Martin is one of those composers whose work seems to survive only by virtue of constantly renewed neglect. His…
Tough love
Frank Martin is one of those composers whose work seems to survive only by virtue of constantly renewed neglect. His…
Olden but golden
This weekend Brian Matthew will present his last-ever Sounds of the 60s show on Radio 2. Now 88, he’s been…
Olden but golden
This weekend Brian Matthew will present his last-ever Sounds of the 60s show on Radio 2. Now 88, he’s been…
Consider this…
FGM: It’s whose fault? African immigrant, Khadiija Gbla, of No FGM Australia accused ‘the health system in Australia’ of ‘failing’…
Consider this…
FGM: It’s whose fault? African immigrant, Khadiija Gbla, of No FGM Australia accused ‘the health system in Australia’ of ‘failing’…
Bridge
If there’s one tournament I’d really like to play in, it’s the Cavendish in Monaco, the largest money bridge tournament…
Welcome, Bibi
Sensible and fair-minded Australians, whether supporters of the Coalition, Labor, One Nation, or Cory Bernardi’s new party (obviously supporters of…
Welcome, Bibi
Sensible and fair-minded Australians, whether supporters of the Coalition, Labor, One Nation, or Cory Bernardi’s new party (obviously supporters of…
Why I’m glad that Unilever saw off predatory robot Kraft Heinz
I was sorry Kraft Heinz’s £115 billion bid for Unilever collapsed so fast — unveiled on Friday, it was dead…
The Ben and Clara affair
As a child in fascist Italy, Clara Petacci (known as Claretta) was dutifully adoring of Benito Mussolini and the cult…
Frontier territory
In Ali’s Café, just inside Turkey on the Bulgarian border, Iraqi and Syrian refugees spend their days drinking tea. Now…
In the thieves’ den
‘To get a confession from a proud male factor, it is always better to call for a poet than a…
Conning the connoisseurs
Rogues’ Gallery describes itself as a history of art and its dealers, and Philip Hook, who has worked at the…
Dead poet’s society
Alex Salmond, former first minister of Scotland, once claimed that he could always tell Scottish fiction from English. Novels, he…
Light in the East
Christopher de Bellaigue, a journalist who has spent much of his working life in the Middle East, has grown tired…
A surreal caprice
At the start of this novella the protagonist, Thibaut, is ambushed by Wehrmacht soldiers between the ninth and tenth arrondissements.…
Let me take you through the night
As a child, I used to travel with my mother from London to Cannes, a journey that took slightly under…
Telling stories
John Burnside is the author of an impressive bookshelf of elegant novels and slim, precise volumes of poetry, and like…
All human life is there
This book kept reminding me of Robin Williams in One Hour Photo. Just as his character spied on customers’ private…
More matter with less art
When A.A. Gill died last December, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth across the nation. I must admit this…
