Quaffing the cup that cheers
Readers should savour this book, as you might one of the delectable bottles that compose the enticing strophe of the book’s narrative
Chronicles of an epic egomaniac
Tackling Harold Bloom
Ferdinand Ries: Piano Trio and Sextets (Hyperion)
Ludwig van Beethoven’s former secretary and pupil was no forgettable curiosity
The final furlong
Horse racing is in existential crisis
Another country
The tales that show how rural life has changed
A real nice clambake
The American classic is fine street-party fare
Keep calm and le Carré on
His pessimism about Britain proved untrue — and its own kind of comforting fantasy
It’s a flying shame
A travel editor gives up planes… for a year
Do we really need so many stage adaptations of novels?
There’s much that can go wrong when the drama of a book is transferred to the stage
Why we need a new movement
The timid world of BritLit needs to be shaken up by a mutinous new clique of writers
Restaurant porn
Dress it up however you want: Hooters is selling sex
The dead city
Romanticism rising from the rubble
Back to the 70s? If only…
Britain is in far worse trouble than we were 40 years ago