High life
The death of three young people I knew
New York The poet was right: April is the cruellest month. We at The Spectator lost Clarissa Tan, my good…
When Taki met Al Sharpton
New York This is a tale of two escape artists in one city. Let’s start with my old friend the…
Vogue, the Boston bombers and the end of civilisation as we know it
America and western Europe sure have their priorities right, blanketing our newspapers, magazines and the airwaves with newsworthy items that…
My New York is gone forever. The internet has seen to that
New York Back to the mythic city, dreamed into existence by the movies long ago and instantly memorable, a visually…
Paddy Macklin's special kind of courage
On 1 July 1961, a beautiful 17-year-old girl appeared on the cover of Paris Match, then in its heyday: ‘C’est…
The end of snow? Not in Gstaad
Gstaad The American newspaper that prints only news it sees fit to poison good things recently announced ‘The end of…
What 12 Years a Slave gets wrong – and The Book Thief gets right
Damn, damn, damn! It has to be me, and all these years I’ve been thinking it was Hollywood. By the…
The week that tripled the size of my liver
Gstaad Walking into a dinner party for 50 chic and some not-so-chic people in a nearby village last week, I…
My drug-addict friend needs medical help, not a prison sentence
Gstaad ‘On ne touche pas une femme, même avec une fleur,’ says an old French dictum, one not always adhered…
Why doesn't Stephen Fry boycott the Saudis as well as the Russians?
Call me sentimental, but I’ve never seen a better opening ceremony than the Sochi one, evoking Russia’s great past in…
My last dance saloon
Gstaad A heavy snowfall diverted 40-odd private jets from landing in Saanen airport, thus the one per cent of the…
Watch out, wolves of Wall Street! It's time Davos had a World Decency Forum
Gstaad If a catastrophic avalanche were to crush the Davos convention hall, where the fat cats of this world were…
Taki: Come on then Saatchi, name a time and place. I'm serious, are you?
OK, folks. We’ve had enough of Hollande and his rather silly antics, although I do understand the man. Ever younger…
When I played softball for Esquire, against Screw
Al Goldstein, who died recently and made the front page of the New York Times, was among the world’s most…
Taki: How the King of Greece taught me the origins of the F word...
Gstaad Although no longer a regular habit, extended benders now turn me into a sort of magnetic field that picks…
Taki: The joys of 2014
Welcome, Mr 2014, if you turn out as good as Mr 2013 was, we’ll get along just fine. Throughout last…
Taki: our leaders are weak and powerless in the face of religious fanatics
This Christmas our thoughts need to be with our fellow Christians who are being threatened in the Bible lands. No…
Taki: the wisdom of 12-year-olds
New York I’m in an extremely happy state as I write this because a young Englishman flew over the ocean…
Taki: The joke that made me like Mike Tyson
New York Nature is at her best right now, the leaves still holding, Central Park awash in golden browns…
Taki: in defence of my friend Alec Baldwin
You know you’re old when people start writing kindly about you. Especially when they are colleagues. First Jeremy Clarke, now…
Taki: Why JFK wouldn't have steered clear of Vietnam if he had lived
Everyone’s doing it, so I might as well jump in too. After all, I knew so many of the people…
Taki: RIP John Jay, my brave friend who refused to take part in vulture capitalism
I suppose the secret of death is to choose not to expire the same day as famous people. I read…
Taki: Ugly people build ugly things — look at New York and London
New York Hot money from China, India, Russia and Singapore is pouring into London; hotter money from the same countries…
Taki: Why is Steve Cohen still getting away with seven billion big ones?
If, according to a Viennese wit, psychoanalysis is the disease that calls itself the cure, then Steve Cohen’s deal with…
Taki: Watch James Toback’s film starring Alex Baldwin and me
New York He came from a wealthy background but was always in trouble. His parents were not particularly religious, but…
