Exit of Peter Florence adds to list of woes that include two years of Covid cancellations and a sex assault claim against a Gulf royalThe future of the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, one of Britain’s oldest and most esteemed annual cultural landm…
Chaise Longue by Baxter Dury review – teenage kicks with the Blockheads
This unflinching memoir by the son of Ian Dury recalls his chaotic life with the ‘pot-soaked Fagin’ and his bodyguardThe first time Baxter Dury performed on stage was at his famous father’s wake. While various stars worked their way through the Ian Dur…
Revealed: the secret trauma that inspired German literary giant
WG Sebald’s writing on the Holocaust was driven by the anger and distress he felt over his father’s service in Hitler’s armyHis books are saturated with despair. Over and over again, his emotionally traumatised characters are caught – inescapably – in …
SA Cosby: ‘The holy trinity of southern fiction is race, class and sex’
The bestselling Virginia crime writer on getting his big break, what southern fiction means to him, and setting his next murder mystery right after Trump is electedCrime writer SA Cosby was the talk of the US literaryscene last year when his novel Blac…
Baxter Dury: ‘Everything was about Dad. It was the only way he knew how to survive’
The musician talks about growing up with a pop star dad, escaping his shadow – and the 6ft 7in drug dealer who lived with them• Read an exclusive extract from Chaise Longue: ‘After a certain point of drinking, Dad’s behaviour became a lottery’Baxter Du…
Original Observer Photography
The fastest British woman in history, the return of the music festival, and a collection of canines – the best photography commissioned by the Observer in July 2021 Continue reading…
Sarah Perry: As an author, I felt useless in the pandemic. So I trained to be a vaccinator
Inspired by a desire to be good and help others during the pandemic, novelist Sarah Perry trained to vaccinate people. But what does it mean to be good when there is so much bad faith?Earlier this year – lockdown three: no sign of spring – I travelled …
‘I never saw my guitar again’: readers on belongings they lost in a breakup
Long after two people have gone their separate ways, some partings still rankle. Readers reflect on the beloved items they left behindEven though my breakup was amicable, I felt a lot of guilt – so when I moved out I said: “Keep it all.” But, in the ye…
絵が苦手でも簡単に描ける「棒人間」を使えば、仕事の成果はこんなに上がる
＜『棒人間図解大全』『成長株集中投資で3億円』『変える技術、考える技術』……。各出版社がいま最もおすすめする6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）。 『出社しなくても最高に評価される人がやっていること』 著者：池本克之 出版社：日本実業出版社 （※画像をクリックするとアマゾンに飛びます） 「な…
権力を私物化する政治家が「保守」派とは思えない──に納得した
＜「真の保守派こそ、誇りをもっていまの政治を叱り飛ばすべき」と主張する憲法学者の著書が教えてくれること＞ 『「人権」がわからない政治家たち』（小林節・著、日刊現代）は、2017年10月から2021年3月まで『日刊ゲンダイ』に掲載されたコラム「ここがおかしい 小林節が斬る！」の中から主要原稿を抜粋し、加筆・修正してまとめた書籍。 「現実の政治的な課題について、民主主義と人権を守る」という観点から評価を加え、解決策を提案しているのだという。 などと聞くと難しそうにも思えてしまうが、決して堅苦しいものでは…