Joseph Conrad – The Secret Agent
Well, you see, I knew this man. This man was very confident. He was a great speaker, a fluent and funny man. Actually, maybe not funny. He wasn’t funny. He was witty – acerbic even. And he was tall and wore black (you know, that might have been a clue, had I been looking for […]
Amin Maalouf – The First Century After Beatrice
I have been distracted from posting by (a) needing to do the mundanities of moving house (b) the necessity to be writing. And yet the books must go, and soon. Onward then, to the shelves. I first read this book as part of a high level think-tank exercise. The think-tank, composed of a number of […]
Book review: Correction Line by Craig Terlson
I can remember when Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow came out and suddenly the kind of book that I loved to read was mainstream. Not for long though, and one of the annoyances of the massive explosion in literary styles and experimental writing is that while more varied (and more variable) writing is now more […]
Book review: Trespass by Rose Tremain
Some years ago I won the entire Orange shortlist in a competition. As a result, I read my first Rose Tremain, The Colour, and have continued to read her ever since. Not when a book comes out, but sporadically, as I prefer to read most literary novelists, when somebody mentions a particular novel to me, […]
The Hummingbird and the Bear: novel review There’s something very interesting about meeting a writer after you’ve read their work, although meeting somebody immediately after reading their novel can be a little disjointing. For years I’ve despaired of readers who have the misguided impression that I am the character(s) I write about. This can be […]
What a writer needs is … Good question, isn’t it? Love, fame, chocolate, a good kick up the arse, a publication contract …? Virginia Woolf famously said that a female writer needed money and a room of her own. In a provocative article Matt Shoard argues that discomfort in one’s living arrangements is more conducive […]
Book Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness This is one of those self-help books that masquerade as narrative. Reading back the sentence above, it sounds a little dismissive and it shouldn’t. Most people need help at differing points in their lives – fulfilling potential is rarely something that the average human achieves alone. Self-help […]
This month I’ve had an essay entitled Losing the Space Race published in Gastronomica. It features my mother, purple mini-skirts and the Smash robots and has made me very happy. Just call me Nigel Slater … And yes, I am also very happy to have been longlisted for the Sunday Times/EFG Short Story Award.Of course […]
Mini book reviews and other literary things I had the most amazing time at West Sussex Writers’ Club! If the assembled members enjoyed themselves even half as much as I did, then a good evening was had by all. Now I’m looking forward to judging their romantic novel opening competition. I do have something I […]
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