Claire Messud interview
The National, November 2013 “How angry am I? You don’t want to know. Nobody wants to know about that.” The very first line of Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs is surely one of the most […]
BOOKS
FATIMA BHUTTO INTERVIEW
The National, December 2013 Fatima Bhutto is staring out of the window of her publisher’s office. The view down the Thames is remarkable. But Benazir Bhutto’s niece – and the daughter of the activist Murtaza […]
The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman by Patrick Barclay
The Observer, January 2014 When an Arsenal manager writes in a newspaper that “spectators want a fast-moving spectacle, rapier-like attacks that have the spirit of adventure, and ever more goals”, it’s almost a given that Arsène Wenger’s […]
The Story Of Music by Howard Goodall
The Observer, October 2013 There is a fascinating point made on the very first page of Howard Goodall‘s snappily written journey through 40,000 years of music. Until the late 19th century, he writes, even the most devoted […]
Outsider II by Brian Sewell
When celebrated art critic Brian Sewell waded into a debate on the state of modern television this summer, in the eccentrically pompous way that only Brian Sewell can, he made a speech deriding its “panjandrums” for being seduced by […]