Jack Kerouac
What do Beethoven, D.H. Lawrence and George Best have in common?
This is not a book about tennis. Roger Federer appears early on, trailed by the obligatory question ‘When will he…
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,…
Chatting up Katherine Mansfield
I like the New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield, who according to Virginia Woolf smelt like a civet cat and had…
Where artists went to drink and die
Once below a time (to quote the man himself) the bloated poet Dylan Thomas slouched back to New York’s Chelsea…
Critics can be creative - look at Malcolm Cowley
Even Spectator book reviewers have to concede that their craft is inferior to the creative travail of authors. Henry James…
American Smoke, by Iain Sinclair - review
If you have read Iain Sinclair’s books you will know that he is a stylist with a love of language.…
