Worldly woes come to a small village in this German bestseller sprinkled with fairytale magicThe okapi lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, its glossy brown body sloping up from zebra-striped legs. It’s an unlikely presence in western Germany, bu…
Top 10 gripes in literature | Lucy Ellmann
Some distrust kvetching in print, but writers from Shakespeare to Valerie Solanas show there’s nothing wrong with constructive – and even destructive – criticismI probably started griping as soon as I could talk. I know I was a good sulker, and sulking…
Crude Britannia by James Marriott and Terry Macalister review – a harrowing read
A story of missed opportunities and industrial decline is told with rare insight and vivacityThis November the eyes of the world will turn to Glasgow. “Cop26 meeting is last chance, says Alok Sharma as he backs UK’s plan for new oil and gas fields,” th…
From Ghetts to Genesis, Nick Cave to Arlo Parks: autumn 2021’s essential music
From Fontaines DC to the Valkyrie, a techno Halloween to Little Simz, this is the unmissable music of the next few months Continue reading…
大谷翔平はなぜいつも楽しそうなのか…自らを「開花」させる86の言葉、ほか【各出版社イチオシ4冊】
＜『東京藝大で教わる西洋美術の見かた』『大谷翔平86のメッセージ』『教養としての地理』……各出版社がいま最もおすすめする4冊を紹介＞ 各出版社の「これはぜひ推したい！」という新刊本を紹介。発行に携わった出版社の担当者たちが、それぞれの本のエッセンスやおすすめのポイントなどをご案内します（この記事は、本の要約サービス「flier（フライヤー）」からの転載です）。 『東京藝大で教わる西洋美術の見かた』 著者：佐藤直樹 出版社：世界文化社 （※画像をクリックするとアマゾンに飛びます） 芸術系の最高…
Colin Bateman: ‘I don’t usually get emotional while writing but this is hugely personal’
The author of dark comic novels such as Divorcing Jack has written a play, Nutcase, drawing on his relationship with his teenage sonAfter writing 34 books (including comedy crime novels such as Divorcing Jack and Driving Big Davie) and numerous movies …
More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman review – the personal is political
An Israeli family’s journey to Croatia throws up secrets that illuminate their pain in a beautiful exploration of the lingering power of historyDavid Grossman’s follow-up to the International Booker-winning A Horse Walks Into a Bar is a Russian doll of…
Poem of the week: The Red Poppy by Louise Glück
This poem by the Nobel laureate is a fierce short parable about environmental devastationThe Red PoppyThe great thingis not havinga mind. Feelings:oh, I have those; theygovern me. I havea lord in heavencalled the sun, and openfor him, showing himthe fi…
Strangers on a Pier by Tash Aw review – memories of a Malaysian outsider
Aw’s memoir subtly laments the gulf between him and his parents, the present and the pastThe novelist Tash Aw was 15 when he noticed the difference. He knew that his classmates at school weren’t all ethnically Chinese like him. There were Tamil kids wh…
Are Our Smartphones Making Us Dopamine Addicts?
“According to addiction expert Dr Anna Lembke, our smartphones are making us dopamine junkies,” reports the Guardian, “with each swipe, like and tweet feeding our habit…”
As the chief of Stanford University’s dual diagnosis addiction clinic (which c…