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Encyclopedia Spheniscida
In 1966, Manchester Education Committee decided that the city was to abolish grammar schools, and go comprehensive. So that was the last year of the 11-plus examination. I was 11 at the time, and sometime in March of that year – I think – my class at Alfred Street sat the final Manchester exam, the…
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Blog Award
My friend Harriet Devine is once again up in the stratosphere of literary bloggers with her latest placing in the Wikio listing where I come a distant 2000 places behind, but I was pleased to be notified that someone must have liked me, because Topsyturvydom has received an award as one of the 2010 Top…
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Any Human Face
After enjoying Charles Lambert’s Little Monsters so much, I was looking forward to his latest novel, Any Human Face, and I was not disappointed. Set in Rome, this novel is a fast-paced and dark tale of murky deeds in high and low places, recounted from multiple perspectives over a span of nearly three decades. What…
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Going Live…
Chez Topsyturvydom, our Sunday morning news source tends to be Radio 5 Live, on the basis that Radio 4 is god-bothering until 9.00 a.m. Today’s top story was about the discovery of a car-bomb in Times Square, New York. Part of the report featured an admirably factual and concise statement from the NYPD police chief,…
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Way to go…
My sharp-eyed reader will have noted that Topsyturvydom now proudly displays the badge proclaiming that we are the 2161st rated general blog in the UK and Ireland blogospshere. The estimable Dovegreyreader is at number 1 in culture and literature. She is veritably the Chelsea to my Forest Green Rovers. Unfortunately, there’s no prospect of a…
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The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet – David Mitchell
Here’s an example of how books are marketed these days. I’ve admired David Mitchell for some time, particularly for his brilliant Cloud Atlas. Thanks to my friend Anthony Levings for the tip.
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Housekeeping
Playing around with Blogger’s new templates. I like this look – clean, I think.
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The sublime Ella
In 1970-71, I had a Saturday job at a grocer’s on Oldham Street, Manchester. The shop, and the small chain it belonged to – Maypole – have long gone, of course, but when I bought some CDs yesterday, I was reminded of it. My wage, for a nine-hour day, was 25s, (£1.25) less 5d for…
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One Day
This is the kind of book that I don’t normally read. It is a book group choice, heavily discounted on the shelves of the supermarket, and promoted through its own website. But I heard the author David Nicholls interviewed on the radio, and he seemed a very engaging cove, so when I saw the book…