A selection of fiction, essays, and reviews, and some reflections on the creative life.
(‘stravaig’, Scots, v.: to wander, roam, daunder, drift…)
Unaccidental
“WE DO TREAT books surprisingly lightly in contemporary culture,” writes Ali Smith, in Artful…
The Guy in the Kitchen
“The Secret Life is an inadvertent autobiography,” Andrew O’Hagan told me…
Geoff at Sea
WHILE READING Geoff Dyer’s latest unmissable blend of new journalism, memoir, and rumination…
The Phoenix
In February 1967, the Iranian poet and filmmaker Forugh Farrokhzad died in a car crash in Tehran.
The Devil’s Own Country
Standing stones punctuate the Scottish landscape, ancient markers of a centuries-old metaphysical debate.
Tell Me About Your Mother
“Bad mothers run in my family,” states Lillis Yourell, the main character of The Closet of Savage Mementos (2014)…
Staring Down the Barrel
In Barbara Pym’s memorable 1952 novel Excellent Women, staid bachelor Everard Bone remarks…
On Risk and Belief
During a prenatal visit to her pediatrician, Eula Biss asked about the necessity of the Hep B vaccine…
City of Bohane
In 2011 the Irish writer Kevin Barry won The International Dublin IMPAC award…
Snap, Crackle, Pop
On Thursday September 14th 1876, a murder is committed in a one-horse town on the outskirts of San Francisco…
Hunger for Reality
David Shields is half-sick of shadows. Like the Lady of Shalott he no longer wants fiction’s embroidery but real life…
Take a Breath
“‘Stay, I tell myself,” thinks Harold Silver, at the end of May We Be Forgiven, “…
The Curate’s Egg
In 1895 Punch published a cartoon in which a curate has lunch with his bishop…
The Final Innings
The first baseball game I ever attended took place in Baltimore’s peerless Camden Yards…
Greed is Good
My latest ‘homework’ was Money (1984), Martin Amis’s comedy about the bling years…
Run, Liz, Run!
The next time James McBride attends an award ceremony, I imagine he’ll prepare a speech…
American Psycho
Ah, the smug high of having removed another book from my ‘should’ve read by now’ list…
