Books
Guns, tools and toffee apples - but no nudity: BBC1’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover reviewed
It’s hard to know whether the actor James Norton was being naive or disingenuous when he claimed in publicity interviews…
Tristram Hunt’s diary: The rainy glories of Devon – and a cold political climate
‘Devon, Devon, Devon/ Where it rains six days out of seven.’ Nothing beats a British seaside holiday. And north Devon…
The contagious madness of the new PC
Obsessive searching for hurt and offence will create it where once it never existed
Oh no: On the Road’s a masterpiece. So what else have I missed?
This week’s column is dedicated to all those of you who have never read Catcher in the Rye and who,…
‘Doorways to the unknown’: Clive James’s Latest Readings
In the preface to his great collection of essays The Dyer’s Hand, W.H. Auden claimed: ‘I prefer a critic’s notebooks…
‘I was facing truths I didn’t particularly want to look at’: Michael Moorcock interview
Cult novelist Michael Moorcock on fantasy, his father, and the London he loved and lost
Road rage and hot air balloons: Jessie Burton’s diary
The week starts well. My debut novel, The Miniaturist, is a year old. On the anniversary of its publication, my…
Why plotting a sound map of London is impossible
It’s easy to tag the city’s terrain by writer. But what, wonders Philip Clark, might a map of its music look like?
My letter from Harper Lee
Avoiding publicity doesn’t stop her being sharp-eyed, curious and impeccably well-mannered. I have the evidence
Rachel Johnson’s diary: Why I told my book party I was coming out as a lesbian
My husband says I only write books in order to have a launch party. Not so. I also write books…
James Runcie’s diary: A Willie’s shock at the SNP
I am writing a play about Dr Johnson and his Dictionary. It will be performed in Scotland later this year.…
I know just the vicar for my parish church. Pity he’s fictional
I know just the man my parish church needs. Unfortunately he’s Catholic – and fictional
The lost words of John Aubrey, from apricate to scobberlotcher
Hilary Spurling found a certain blunting of the irregularities of John Aubrey’s language in Ruth Scurr’s vicarious autobiography of the…
Jeffrey Archer’s diary: a pirate at the traffic lights, and other Indian wonders
This last week, in India, I visited six cities in seven days: Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta and New Delhi.…
Exciting new ways of not writing a novel
Procrastination is easier in the age of Google – but less honest
Sebastian Faulks’s diary: My task for 2015 – get a job
Just back from Sri Lanka, a place I first went to in 1981. It was then a dreamy island. I…
The long ordeal of Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art
I was working on the final edit of my book — a fictionalised account of the year Charles Rennie Mackintosh…
Warning: these books could seriously damage your health
Welcome to 2015, the year that speaking and writing freely had to stop. Anything that might cause trauma to anyone…
Stig Abell’s diary: My days in court with the Sun
Soon after I joined the Sun as managing editor (among other things, I used to review novels for The Spectator),…
S&M&B&Q: Why aren’t there sex-and-shopping novels for men?
I never got beyond page 20 in Fifty Shades of Grey. No one got shot in the first chapter, and…
Dear Mary: Learning to love a man who whistles through his nose
Q. What can you do when disorganised friends say they would love to come to a concert with you but…
Anthony Horowitz’s diary: Keeping James Bond’s secrets for the Smersh of publishing
It was quite fun being named as the new writer of 007 — although actually I’d make a lousy spy.…
The unbearable vanity of Kevin Pietersen
Pietersen’s self-indulgent tales of woe lack credibility
Mary Beard vs Jeremy Paxman
‘Did you find it a good read?’ asked Harrriett Gilbert. An incredibly long drawn-out sigh from Mr Paxman. ‘I think…
Andrew Marr’s diary: Seeing shadows of Syria in Limousin’s ghost village
No, no, no, you don’t want a house abroad — the paperwork, the taxes, the piping, the cost of the…
