Skip to content

Tag Archives: literature

War Horse: (a tangent to) the real story

Channel Four runs with variation on Michael Morpurgo’s dubious theme – reviewed. — For theartsdesk

theASHtray, vol.3

In which Whitney Houston spoils my Valentine’s evening. — For theartsdesk

Zona (my other Valentine)

A Q&A about a book about a film about a journey… ft. Geoff Dyer. — For Guernica

On tennis, Twitter and telly

Out-takes plus trailer for my forthcoming Geoff Dyer Q&A. — For Guernica

theASHtray, vol.1

In which James Bond, Beyoncé Knowles, WG Sebald, Daniel Craig, Grant Gee, Alain de Botton, Eddie Redmayne and that girl with the dragon tattoo are discussed. — For theartsdesk

After Wood (after Sebald)

… and it was here, while re-reading an article by the American critic James Wood on the oneiric nature of the writings of ‘Max’ Sebald, that I found myself impressed more and more by the feeling that it was in fact Wood himself who had at least once previously caused me to look up the […]

Middle-distant memory

of queuing outside the toilets with Roger McGough, talking about why we hate rap.

Like father…

My father has no fewer than eight pots of coloured ink on his desk. He has written nothing of note. I have a biro, with a missing top. I also have not written anything.

Interview(ed)

(for the British School in Colombo yearbook 2010/11) 1. So, what’s with the beard? After I graduated from the War Studies Faculty at KCL I rather fancied myself as a war correspondent, so I grew the beard. Then I just rather fancied myself. 2. We somehow get the impression that you are always very sarcastic […]

Note to my biographer

For the record: that page I’ve turned down – 102 – in the Alain de Botton paperback (the one with the Cambodian price sticker) is to mark the linguistic curiosity of the author’s ‘goo-goo gaga’ [inconsistent hyphenation of onomatopoeia]; not the stuff about Eric – the protagonist – and his alleged emotional coldness.