He’s a real star. Have you read his others? All really good.
November 11, 2025 at 9:06 AM
He’s a real star. Have you read his others? All really good.
And my review of Seascraper:
“Readers of literary fiction can be divided into two groups: those who admire the novels of the English author Benjamin Wood, and those who haven’t read him yet.”
Me on Wood’s latest bit of terrificness, Seascraper:
Me on Wood’s latest bit of terrificness, Seascraper:
Seascraper — scenes from a deserted beach
Benjamin Wood’s otherworldy short novel about a young man working along a shoreline is a small wonder
on.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:02 AM
And my review of Seascraper:
My review of Love Forms:
“With its rich creation of all the elements that make up a life, Love Forms achieves a sort of alchemy.”
Me on Claire Adam’s long-awaited - and worth the wait - second novel, a book “about a life with a hole in it”.
Me on Claire Adam’s long-awaited - and worth the wait - second novel, a book “about a life with a hole in it”.
Love Forms — the alchemy of great fiction
Desmond Elliott Prize winner Claire Adam creates the illusion of real life on the page in the story of a middle-aged Londoner searching for her adopted daughter
on.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:01 AM
My review of Love Forms:
Hm, still ok for me.
November 10, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Hm, still ok for me.
Oh I forgot that! Barnes introduced and chose (but didn’t translate) the recent selection of his diaries published by riverrun.
November 9, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Oh I forgot that! Barnes introduced and chose (but didn’t translate) the recent selection of his diaries published by riverrun.
He really is. He’s the one I was happiest to include in the list as I thought he might not be widely known.
November 9, 2025 at 10:56 PM
He really is. He’s the one I was happiest to include in the list as I thought he might not be widely known.
Reposted by John Self
☝️Includes Jules Renard trying a banana for the first time, Ivan Turgenev not being able to get it up, Oswald Mosley “stretching the cock over three generations” and Samuel Pepys shitting in a chimney (twice). Yes I am a man of simple appetites.
November 9, 2025 at 9:53 AM
☝️Includes Jules Renard trying a banana for the first time, Ivan Turgenev not being able to get it up, Oswald Mosley “stretching the cock over three generations” and Samuel Pepys shitting in a chimney (twice). Yes I am a man of simple appetites.
Oh really! That was optimistic! Actually Margaret Atwood talks about that series in her autobiography - basically Jamie Byng charmed her into signing up for it, and because she was the biggest name, they wanted to launch with her. She went off the idea but felt she had to go through with it.
November 9, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Oh really! That was optimistic! Actually Margaret Atwood talks about that series in her autobiography - basically Jamie Byng charmed her into signing up for it, and because she was the biggest name, they wanted to launch with her. She went off the idea but felt she had to go through with it.
I mean why not add in Allen Bratton’s excellent novel Henry Henry, since we’re here, which was a loose rewrite of Henry IV/V?
November 9, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I mean why not add in Allen Bratton’s excellent novel Henry Henry, since we’re here, which was a loose rewrite of Henry IV/V?
Haha, why did they even put the equivalent title at the top?
November 9, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Haha, why did they even put the equivalent title at the top?
They’ve give the seven existing novels new covers by Michael Craig-Martin, and added two other existing novels that I presume they reckon constitute rewrites of Shakespeare plays too. (Haddon below is new, as is Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies [Romeo and Juliet], not pictured.)
November 9, 2025 at 9:49 PM
They’ve give the seven existing novels new covers by Michael Craig-Martin, and added two other existing novels that I presume they reckon constitute rewrites of Shakespeare plays too. (Haddon below is new, as is Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies [Romeo and Juliet], not pictured.)
Reposted by John Self
Just remembered that Status Quo are responsible for one of the few LP covers that have ever made me laugh out loud. #GetAGoodGoodDeal
November 9, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Just remembered that Status Quo are responsible for one of the few LP covers that have ever made me laugh out loud. #GetAGoodGoodDeal