A typical exchange with the spotty youth manning, or teenagering, the supermarket checkout yesterday. After we paid and packed, I said “thanks” and he said “see you later.” Actually, what he said was more like “see yers later”, but that’s besides the point really. Now, unless I’ve missed a very subtle invitation from a boy… Continue reading See You Later, x
This is a first for me. I’m reviewing a book that I haven’t held in my hands – yes, it’s my first e-book. My friend Anthony Levings, the onlie begetter of Gylphi, the new publisher for arts and humanities, sent me an E-Pub version of this new volume of critical essays on David Mitchell, and… Continue reading David Mitchell: Critical Essays
One of the pleasures of the internet is making connections with people who share your interest. Martin Phipps, a Canadian, whose path I would not otherwise have crossed, is one such: our mutual interest in Anthony Burgess led to some exchanges via Facebook and the Burgess forums, and made me keen to read his novel… Continue reading Rue des Mensonges
I blogged before – blimey, nearly six years ago – about the use of “no problem” as an all-purpose response by people who serve you in shops, bars etc. There was a classic instance of it last night. We went for a pre-event meal to a branch of a well-known pizza chain, whose name begins… Continue reading No problem revisited
I found this story astonishing. In the year of my birth, about a mile from where I lived, a teenage girl was being sectioned under the mental health act for the crime of having a baby. That boy, a few months older than me, was adopted, and has never known his mother. I thought this… Continue reading In this day and age
An interesting example of how stories are distorted in the telling, and how ‘news’ is created. Yesterday, at my place of work, there was a power cut. It happened around lunch time. I went out of my office to see if it was just my room, or more general. It was quickly apparent that the… Continue reading Chinese Whispers
To the IABF once more for the latest in their literary event series. The subject this week was Nicholas Royle, together with Nicholas Royle. Royle mark 1 is an academic, the co-author of the very successful undergraduate text An Introduction to Literature Criticism and Theory, and the sole author of The Uncanny. He is also,… Continue reading Nick and Nick
To the Dancehouse with Caroline for a celebratory gig with Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six. The prolific Mr Barabbas has a new album out, but this gig was really a showcase for the band, and an opportunity to feature John Otway, self-styled “rock and roll’s greatest failure”, whose extraordinary career includes two hit singles… Continue reading Bedlam sans Merci
Gylphi, run by my friend Anthony Levings, published this book last month, and it is a strange beast. I have been trying to make my mind up about it, but trying to categorize it is difficult – it contains poems, essays, playlets, photos and meditations. It’s a collaborative effort, from Jason Lee – no, not… Continue reading Seeing Galileo
To Angers, for the fourth international colloquium at the Anthony Burgess Centre, this time focusing on Burgess’s encounters with the Elizabethans. It was, as usual, a very enjoyable event, and it was great to meet up with old Burgessian pals, and to make some new ones. Angers is a very pleasant town, with a chateau,… Continue reading Look Back at Angers