Books
Conversations Through the Rabbit Glass
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re…
When Milton met Galileo
I chanced upon this painting of the meeting between Galileo and John Milton and had a flashback to undergraduate days…
A Scream in Soho
It's London in wartime, in the blackout before the Blitz and the streets of Soho are full of characters straight…
The East Coker Opera House Murders #1940Club
Based on his published letters,1940 was a busy year for T.S.Eliot. He was based in London and working at Faber…
1940 and the #1940Club
Hope I'm not jumping the gun here but the #1940Club starts next week and I've been gearing up and getting…
The Pineapple Party
Norman Pearson returned towards the end of January, after an absence in Spain and Portugal, bearing two bananas, two oranges…
Comfort Food and Comfort Books
A recent NYTimes Cooking newsletter from Melissa Clark drew my attention to the article about Raghavan Iyer by Kim Severson …
The Rise and Fall of Spurious George
Two centuries after William Hogarth published his engravings of the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, Rebecca West wrote a…
Classic Crime: Murder, she laughed
Felled by the dreaded lurgy in early January I was sidelined from my usual reading routine. It’s hard to concentrate…
Literal Nazis and the Retro-transing of History
Researching Marienbad and the Savoy led me to Erika Mann and all the gossip, scandal, politics, and drama of her…