Authors you’re too old to read at 34 (part 2) Virginia Andrews I Love Books has been tossing around the notion of re-reading, reflecting changes of taste and how the reader’s judgement alters throughout the years. In the middle of the dis[…]
Broadway Market, Hackney On 8th May 2004, this ancient chartered market in East London was reborn. The market straddles an old drovers path to the City. London Fields was the last common grazing area for livestock before the final leg into town and t[…]
Molvania This is the first travel book to be written about Molvania. Why has it taken so long to write a guide to this Central European backwater? Well, it’s had its fair share of civil wars, natural disasters and brutal dictators, but also bec[…]
I wasn’t sure whether to post this on the Brown or the Orange Wedge. As the latter has come to life of late, I guess it can sit with its new sporting buddies. The premise of the book is simple. The author picks eight of the world’s bigges[…]
It was interesting to hear opinions on Maradona’s heart attack. There is an e-mail doing the rounds with a distorted photo and something along the lines of ‘Get well soon, you cheating fat midget’. Eighteen years on from that goal a[…]
Uncomfortable Reading I collect old travel literature on Europe and the Americas. I can’t explain the appeal, but it combines elements of dusty covers and rifling through damp shops in Hay-on-Wye. The more offbeat the finds, the better. Two wo[…]
Jorge Luis Borges I meant to publish this a while back. Reading the article on FT this month regarding Latin American literature jogged my memory. Borges is Argentina’s greatest modern writer. That’s hardly a contentious statement. I woul[…]
I was blown away by this last night. It was stunning in so many ways. The ENO production pushed the humour to the front and the comic foil; Papageno hammed it up to the crowd. There is a lot of character and location movement in The Magic Flute and t[…]
Until this season I’ve always thought of him as an underachiever, silky skills wrapped in a sulky attitude. But he’s playing the football of his life. Loads of goals, and not simple tap-ins either. Barcelona need Ronaldinho just as much a[…]
Literary Gems Journey to the Alcarria ‘ Camilo Jose Cela In an age before travel writing imposed self-made obstacles and it was possible to explore the world without strapping a fridge to your leg or unicycling blindfolded across the Andes, the[…]