Book
Kazuo Ishiguro is right about cancel culture
When the Kuwaiti authorities banned nearly 1,000 books from the Kuwait International Literature festival including Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, the…
Grubby thumb prints and peeling glue
Among the spoils of a lockdown clear-out was a box of my grandmother’s books: Woolf, Austen, Mitford and The Complete…
Low life
The army patrols at Nice airport go around three abreast, steely-eyed, fingers on the trigger. They walk slowly and scrutinise…
Dear Mary
Q. At a recent literary festival I attended a talk with a high-profile octogenarian writer. I had already bought her…
Low life
As I think I said in this column the other week, I used to sneak into English lectures at University…
Real life
As the maître d’ ushered me into the packed restaurant, I leaned in close and intoned softly, so as not…
