Grotesque vignettes: The Body in the Mobile Library and Other Stories, by Peter Bradshaw, reviewed
Relishing the outrageous and improbable, Bradshaw treats us to stories that often rely more on twist than plot
Nina Stibbe’s eye for the absurd is as sharp as ever
Back in London after an absence of 20 years, she’s no longer a literary outsider – but she’s still an acute observer, relishing the foibles of everyone she meets
Man for hire
Shoji Morimoto offers himself to strangers in Tokyo to queue on their behalf, make a fuss of their dogs or simply provide a human presence
Friendless, but not unhappy
A retired librarian reflects on a childhood runaway adventure and a devastating romantic betrayal as he begins to forge new bonds in later life
Tears and laughter: We All Want Impossible Things, by Catherine Newman, reviewed
Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and she’s craving the lemon cake she once got from Dean & Deluca deli…
Mitfordian mischief: Darling, by India Knight, reviewed
It takes chutzpah to tackle a national treasure as jealously loved and gatekept as Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love.…
Back on the road: Less is Lost, by Andrew Sean Greer, reviewed
Get ready for more of Less: Andrew Sean Greer’s hapless novelist is back on the road. First things first: you…
Good luck enjoying eating salmon ever again
‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by cat videos,’ begins Henry Mance’s How to Love Animals, winningly.…
Not just a trolley dolly: the demanding life of an air hostess
Come Fly the World is not the book I thought I was getting. The slightly (surely deliberately) pulpy cover —…
Victoria Wood: stiletto in an oven glove
Even if you didn’t have an Auntie Dot in Cockermouth (the one who ate a raffia drinks coaster, mistaking it…
