“I only read it for the constitutional debate”: best thing about this story is the name of the German erotic magazine in question.[…]

The Closed Circle by Jonathon Coe
Jonathon Coe’s The Rotter’s Club (published 2001) was always intended to be Book 1 of a larger story, and Book 2, The Closed Circle has only recently come out. It is a page-turner no doubt (I read it ver[…]

BLOCK BLOG
1: Sins Of The Father
Well if Dan can do all the Dr Who books in order, a quick trawl through Lawrence Block’s ouvre should not be past me. In particular, the Matt Scudder books. This will be a short set of tails spilt into three. On[…]

INSIDE THE GESTAPO
by Helene Moszkiewiez
PIRATE QUEEN
by Judith Cook
The books aren’t related, I picked the first one because, well, that’s a pretty good if direct title, while the second had a nice psuedo-map cover that I usually fall fo[…]

A sixteen year old me would have loved Three Men In A Boat. The thirty one year old is less taken by its rambling travelogue. I still found it funny, and its constant digressions entertained, but it pales in comparison to what followed it. Clearly Je[…]

My basic critical position on ‘mainstream’ comics (superhero comics, for the purposes of this post) is that they are awful and getting worse. This was based on a) my experiences reading them during the 90s and b) prejudice. Somewhat annoy[…]

The Bat Tattoo by Russell Hoban
I’m not sure why, but my respect and love for his work is much greater than my memory for him. When I think of my favourite writers, or the best living British writers, he seems not to leap to mind, but he should[…]

Poor Richard

The Camera Always Lies and The Camera Always tells the Truth –
Raymond Neilson
Avedon is dead, and I think now, a special kind of photography will go with him – he was the one that played both ends against the middle. The on[…]

Superman Lovers: this seems like the worst reason for a baby’s name ever. Would other European countries be so draconian, however? I am sure for instance that a baby born in Germany being named “Ubermensch” because when he was born […]

More London business: this coming weekend may be a good weekend for sniffing around the cutting edge of East London’s art world. It’s F-EST so they’ll be looking out for you. This may make it a bad time to go and visit, depending on[…]