Jim Crace is both flattered and amused that he’s become the subject of Academic study. “I’m flattered. I’d rather that there were academic books about me than there weren’t any – he says, in a down to earth tone before continuing to outline one of the stranger Academic analyses of his work – a Japanese […]
“The truth is actually much more buffoonish than most conspiracy theorists believe”, explains Jon Ronson, the author of The men who stare at goats, a book that deals with the psychological branch of the US military machine. “The men who stare at goats deals with one of the maddest conspiracy theories there is, about powerful […]
Collected essays from the celebrated and controversial Hitchens, ranging from responses to September 11th, through to literary criticism.
When getting ready for Christmas, decorations collected over the years come down from the attic to transform our house into a yuletide shrine. Ancient carol singers share the mantelpiece with a new holly wreath. The dining table becomes a winter wonderland, covered with Santas of different nationality, size and shape. Mixed in with the red-hatted […]
The golem, an artificial man made by moulding clay into the shape of a man and reciting spells over it, has been described by Isaac Bashevis Singer as “the very essence of Jewish folklore”. Yet he has travelled far beyond the boundaries of Jewish folklore, starring on the silver screen and in Marvell comics, and […]
Nations are not such new phenomena. The concept of Irish and Norwegian Nations dates back to medieval times. What is relatively new however, is an acknowledgement on the part of the general population of their membership of the Nation. Humans are social animals and have since earliest times tended to define themselves as X, son […]
At a push, if one had to suggest one book, and one book alone, on South America – that would cover History, Politics, Culture and Society, and yet be a startlingly good read, with a dose of botany thrown in for good measure, there can only be one recommendation – One River by Wade Davis. […]
Tim Pat Coogan describes interviewing Flann O’Brien in 1964 after the publication of The Dalkey Archive. The interview was carefully planned. Apart from getting him to talk, there was one other main objective: to keep O’Brien away from the drink. It was to take place at 8.30 on a Saturday morning so that he could […]
