Dan Jenks
@dantjenks.bsky.social
Reading. Cycling. Education.
https://substack.com/@dan1997690?r=4hxm6&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile
https://substack.com/@dan1997690?r=4hxm6&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile
Reposted by Dan Jenks
Here’s my review of @andrewgallix.bsky.social’s wonderfully irreverent debut novel, Loren Ipsum, in the print edition of today’s @theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Here’s my review of @andrewgallix.bsky.social’s wonderfully irreverent debut novel, Loren Ipsum, in the print edition of today’s @theguardian.com
Such a sad piece of news - one of those writers I’ve been reading seemingly forever. She could write so well about so much.
It was great to hear her and Carmen Callil discussing The Soul of Kindness on @backlisted.bsky.social - it’s one of my favourite episodes.
It was great to hear her and Carmen Callil discussing The Soul of Kindness on @backlisted.bsky.social - it’s one of my favourite episodes.
Shocked to hear of the death of Rachel Cooke at 56 — I didn’t even know she was ill. I always enjoyed reading her reviews and features: she brightened any page of the paper.
Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Such a sad piece of news - one of those writers I’ve been reading seemingly forever. She could write so well about so much.
It was great to hear her and Carmen Callil discussing The Soul of Kindness on @backlisted.bsky.social - it’s one of my favourite episodes.
It was great to hear her and Carmen Callil discussing The Soul of Kindness on @backlisted.bsky.social - it’s one of my favourite episodes.
Reposted by Dan Jenks
The unwelcome November rain had perversely stolen the day's last hour and pawned it with that ancient fence, the night.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
November 14, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The unwelcome November rain had perversely stolen the day's last hour and pawned it with that ancient fence, the night.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Great review of @andrewgallix.bsky.social Loren Ipsum from @judecook.bsky.social
He captures the utter fun that comes from reading this novel.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
He captures the utter fun that comes from reading this novel.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Loren Ipsum by Andrew Gallix review – chronically funny satire of the literary scene
Full of word games, in-jokes and grisly murders, this debut pours gleeful scorn on the pretensions of contemporary literary life
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Great review of @andrewgallix.bsky.social Loren Ipsum from @judecook.bsky.social
He captures the utter fun that comes from reading this novel.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
He captures the utter fun that comes from reading this novel.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Just finished the freewheelin, non stop, rollercoaster ride that is Shadow Ticket - noir with enough red herrings to start a fishmongers.
I think this review was fair, thoughtful and considered.
Definitely worth a read. Pynchon’s midlist is better than most writer’s best.
I think this review was fair, thoughtful and considered.
Definitely worth a read. Pynchon’s midlist is better than most writer’s best.
"[One could take] its aesthetic limitations as formal affordances... "Shadow Ticket" perhaps traces the attitudes and semiotics of pre-emergent fascism, [like a] historiographical broadcast from State fascism’s inchoate moment."
Cobi Chiodo Powell on Pynchon
clereviewofbooks.com/thomas-pynch...
Cobi Chiodo Powell on Pynchon
clereviewofbooks.com/thomas-pynch...
Intransigent Delay: On Thomas Pynchon’s "Shadow Ticket" - Cleveland Review of Books
Shadow Ticket perhaps traces, through the suppleness of form, the attitudes and semiotics of pre-emergent fascism.
clereviewofbooks.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Just finished the freewheelin, non stop, rollercoaster ride that is Shadow Ticket - noir with enough red herrings to start a fishmongers.
I think this review was fair, thoughtful and considered.
Definitely worth a read. Pynchon’s midlist is better than most writer’s best.
I think this review was fair, thoughtful and considered.
Definitely worth a read. Pynchon’s midlist is better than most writer’s best.
“There’s a vulnerability in these songs, because everything we’ve been through has brought us to this moment, to this album, honoring what we’ve lost and lifting up what still remains. That duality. That’s life, and that’s De La,” - Posdnuos
youtu.be/u9N994FmnxU?...
youtu.be/u9N994FmnxU?...
De La Soul - "The Package" (Visualizer)
YouTube video by WeAreDeLaSoul
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 9:49 PM
“There’s a vulnerability in these songs, because everything we’ve been through has brought us to this moment, to this album, honoring what we’ve lost and lifting up what still remains. That duality. That’s life, and that’s De La,” - Posdnuos
youtu.be/u9N994FmnxU?...
youtu.be/u9N994FmnxU?...
Better than even I could have expected. Cale continues to astonish, as does Charli - zfg as the kids say.
Well this is a bit of a dream meeting – 3:16 of gothic pop excellence:
thequietus.com/news/charli-...
thequietus.com/news/charli-...
Charli XCX & John Cale Unveil Noisy Wuthering Heights Collab | The Quietus
Charli XCX and John Cale have released a video for gothic pop dirge belter ‘House’, written to appear on the soundtrack for Emerald Fennell’s forthcoming adaptation of Emily Brontē’s novel Wuthering H...
thequietus.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Better than even I could have expected. Cale continues to astonish, as does Charli - zfg as the kids say.
Fuck! That was good. My first Manchette - I doubt it’ll be my last.
November 9, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Fuck! That was good. My first Manchette - I doubt it’ll be my last.
Reposted by Dan Jenks
Salute to the writer/poet the great Guillaume Apollinaire who died #otd 9th November 1918 having suffered injury in the Great War & then contracting Spanish Flu.
Ginsberg’s ‘At Apollinaire’s Grave’ was put to music by Kramer, released by Shimmy Disc in 2021 youtu.be/Xj4l46-QSXo It's a beauty...
Ginsberg’s ‘At Apollinaire’s Grave’ was put to music by Kramer, released by Shimmy Disc in 2021 youtu.be/Xj4l46-QSXo It's a beauty...
Allen Ginsberg - At Apollinaire’s Grave (Official Shimmy-Disc Video)
YouTube video by Joyful Noise Recordings
youtu.be
November 9, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Salute to the writer/poet the great Guillaume Apollinaire who died #otd 9th November 1918 having suffered injury in the Great War & then contracting Spanish Flu.
Ginsberg’s ‘At Apollinaire’s Grave’ was put to music by Kramer, released by Shimmy Disc in 2021 youtu.be/Xj4l46-QSXo It's a beauty...
Ginsberg’s ‘At Apollinaire’s Grave’ was put to music by Kramer, released by Shimmy Disc in 2021 youtu.be/Xj4l46-QSXo It's a beauty...
Reposted by Dan Jenks
Delighted to have a new short story published by @fictivedream.bsky.social. Read my take on Gogol's How the Two Ivans Quarrelled here 👇
"The braying seemed to be in their very bedrooms, if not inside their minds…" A Donkey’s Tale (or How the Two Renés Quarrelled) by Jude Cook @judecook.bsky.social #shortstory #fiction. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/11/02/a...
November 2, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Delighted to have a new short story published by @fictivedream.bsky.social. Read my take on Gogol's How the Two Ivans Quarrelled here 👇
Reading this half term. Thanks to @backlisted.bsky.social @judecook.bsky.social @stuhennigan.bsky.social @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social @andrewgallix.bsky.social @andrewmale.bsky.social @grantabooks.bsky.social @lesfugitivespress.bsky.social @joannapocock.bsky.social
among others.
among others.
October 31, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reading this half term. Thanks to @backlisted.bsky.social @judecook.bsky.social @stuhennigan.bsky.social @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social @andrewgallix.bsky.social @andrewmale.bsky.social @grantabooks.bsky.social @lesfugitivespress.bsky.social @joannapocock.bsky.social
among others.
among others.
A poet is born and not mad(e)
I AM echoing in the indifferent air,
Clare rose from his maddened fog
and must have wept to see the mirror.
How long would it be before he was
To be toss'd into nothingness once more,
The cloud smothering him in his shroud?
1/2
I AM echoing in the indifferent air,
Clare rose from his maddened fog
and must have wept to see the mirror.
How long would it be before he was
To be toss'd into nothingness once more,
The cloud smothering him in his shroud?
1/2
October 28, 2025 at 10:32 PM
A poet is born and not mad(e)
I AM echoing in the indifferent air,
Clare rose from his maddened fog
and must have wept to see the mirror.
How long would it be before he was
To be toss'd into nothingness once more,
The cloud smothering him in his shroud?
1/2
I AM echoing in the indifferent air,
Clare rose from his maddened fog
and must have wept to see the mirror.
How long would it be before he was
To be toss'd into nothingness once more,
The cloud smothering him in his shroud?
1/2
Just seen Kerry James Marshall’s The Histories in Royal Academy. Brilliant stuff. If in the smoke check it out
October 28, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Just seen Kerry James Marshall’s The Histories in Royal Academy. Brilliant stuff. If in the smoke check it out
Great show! And I guessed which Gene Kelly movie @andrewmale.bsky.social would pick.
So many many interesting observations about a novel many think they know from a vague reading as a teen. Deffo hope it provokes people to re-read one of the oddest books in the canon.
So many many interesting observations about a novel many think they know from a vague reading as a teen. Deffo hope it provokes people to re-read one of the oddest books in the canon.
Delighted to hop aboard the ghost ship Backlisted again for some spooky shenanigans for Hallowe’en! Tune in for our supernatural take on Wuthering Heights, discussion of our favourite Brontë, and just the odd reference to another favourite author of mine 😉👻🎃 Thanks for having me, gang!
Hallowe'en special up now. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, with guests Andrew Male and Laura Varnam in conversation with Una McCormack and Andy Miller. 🌬️🎃🧟 @andrewmale.bsky.social @drlauravarnam.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/0Zde...
open.spotify.com/episode/0Zde...
October 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Great show! And I guessed which Gene Kelly movie @andrewmale.bsky.social would pick.
So many many interesting observations about a novel many think they know from a vague reading as a teen. Deffo hope it provokes people to re-read one of the oddest books in the canon.
So many many interesting observations about a novel many think they know from a vague reading as a teen. Deffo hope it provokes people to re-read one of the oddest books in the canon.
I know to live is to face an unending litany of death but now of Jack DeJohnette!
I saw him play a while back in London and he was just a force behind that kit. He made everyone better - including Miles and certainly Keith but plenty others too.
Just listen to this
youtu.be/JzbJMReL9yQ?...
I saw him play a while back in London and he was just a force behind that kit. He made everyone better - including Miles and certainly Keith but plenty others too.
Just listen to this
youtu.be/JzbJMReL9yQ?...
I Fall In Love Too Easily / The Fire Within
YouTube video by Keith Jarrett - Topic
youtu.be
October 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I know to live is to face an unending litany of death but now of Jack DeJohnette!
I saw him play a while back in London and he was just a force behind that kit. He made everyone better - including Miles and certainly Keith but plenty others too.
Just listen to this
youtu.be/JzbJMReL9yQ?...
I saw him play a while back in London and he was just a force behind that kit. He made everyone better - including Miles and certainly Keith but plenty others too.
Just listen to this
youtu.be/JzbJMReL9yQ?...
I’ve read so many of Bellos’ translations. For me, he is my Perec.
But also don’t forget his Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything which totally made me rethink work in translation.
But also don’t forget his Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything which totally made me rethink work in translation.
RIP to David Bellos, a great translator, teacher, scholar and popularizer. Here's a charming little essay about what he learned from his landmark translation of Georges Perec's 'Life: A User's Manual'. online.wsj.com/article/SB10...
October 27, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I’ve read so many of Bellos’ translations. For me, he is my Perec.
But also don’t forget his Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything which totally made me rethink work in translation.
But also don’t forget his Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything which totally made me rethink work in translation.
Been re-reading Demons (or whatever your preferred translation calls it) and again I’m amazed by how it holds together, but only just. Always on the edge of collapse and the incomprehensible. I recognised the same experience listening to Blackout by Bowie today - it shouldn’t work but it does - just
October 24, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Been re-reading Demons (or whatever your preferred translation calls it) and again I’m amazed by how it holds together, but only just. Always on the edge of collapse and the incomprehensible. I recognised the same experience listening to Blackout by Bowie today - it shouldn’t work but it does - just
So many Soft Cell moments. For those of us tuning into TOTP in the early eighties, we weren’t to realise how lucky were to have these geniuses in our living rooms - luring disco Dollie’s to a life of vice, saying hello waving goodbye and making bedsitter life sound impossibly romantic.
October 23, 2025 at 7:23 PM
So many Soft Cell moments. For those of us tuning into TOTP in the early eighties, we weren’t to realise how lucky were to have these geniuses in our living rooms - luring disco Dollie’s to a life of vice, saying hello waving goodbye and making bedsitter life sound impossibly romantic.
Woke up with Outlaw Blues rattling round my head this morning. I’m now working my way through a bunch of cover versions rather than mark some essays. My favourite so far is Grace Slick’s spirited version with the Great Society.
youtu.be/eMPZrSgMbgQ?...
youtu.be/eMPZrSgMbgQ?...
Outlaw Blues
YouTube video by Grace Slick - Topic
youtu.be
October 15, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Woke up with Outlaw Blues rattling round my head this morning. I’m now working my way through a bunch of cover versions rather than mark some essays. My favourite so far is Grace Slick’s spirited version with the Great Society.
youtu.be/eMPZrSgMbgQ?...
youtu.be/eMPZrSgMbgQ?...
Lots of others but this is what I first thought of when thinking about D’Angelo - no finer voice to go with Ms Hill
youtu.be/g3a__bcJeW8?...
youtu.be/g3a__bcJeW8?...
Nothing Even Matters
YouTube video by Ms. Lauryn Hill - Topic
youtu.be
October 14, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Lots of others but this is what I first thought of when thinking about D’Angelo - no finer voice to go with Ms Hill
youtu.be/g3a__bcJeW8?...
youtu.be/g3a__bcJeW8?...
Blackout by Yann Chateigné Tytelman a remarkable little book - a meditation on grief, silences, solitude, the solaces (or otherwise) of art.
Taking in Charles Ray’s Ink Box, Celmin’s sea pictures, David Toop, Judy Nylon along the way. It’s another fantastic work from @lesfugitivespress.bsky.social
Taking in Charles Ray’s Ink Box, Celmin’s sea pictures, David Toop, Judy Nylon along the way. It’s another fantastic work from @lesfugitivespress.bsky.social
October 13, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Blackout by Yann Chateigné Tytelman a remarkable little book - a meditation on grief, silences, solitude, the solaces (or otherwise) of art.
Taking in Charles Ray’s Ink Box, Celmin’s sea pictures, David Toop, Judy Nylon along the way. It’s another fantastic work from @lesfugitivespress.bsky.social
Taking in Charles Ray’s Ink Box, Celmin’s sea pictures, David Toop, Judy Nylon along the way. It’s another fantastic work from @lesfugitivespress.bsky.social
Croydon gets everywhere @backlisted.bsky.social - one for Andy in @andrewgallix.bsky.social novel Loren Ipsum - a playful English novel in the French tradition.
October 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Croydon gets everywhere @backlisted.bsky.social - one for Andy in @andrewgallix.bsky.social novel Loren Ipsum - a playful English novel in the French tradition.
Rare event. I got to race with my son today. He’s the second best all rounder in the country - I’m not in the top thousand.
A two-up fifteen mile time trial where he very efficiently almost killed me. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
A two-up fifteen mile time trial where he very efficiently almost killed me. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
October 12, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Rare event. I got to race with my son today. He’s the second best all rounder in the country - I’m not in the top thousand.
A two-up fifteen mile time trial where he very efficiently almost killed me. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
A two-up fifteen mile time trial where he very efficiently almost killed me. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Things I didn’t expect… a Big Star fan doing the NY Connections compiling today.
October 10, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Things I didn’t expect… a Big Star fan doing the NY Connections compiling today.
Krasznahorkai is a return to bleak difficult European winners of the Nobel.
Whilst I like him, I don’t think I’ll be encouraging many of my mates to read him.
Whilst I like him, I don’t think I’ll be encouraging many of my mates to read him.
October 9, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Krasznahorkai is a return to bleak difficult European winners of the Nobel.
Whilst I like him, I don’t think I’ll be encouraging many of my mates to read him.
Whilst I like him, I don’t think I’ll be encouraging many of my mates to read him.