Man Booker Prize Shortlist 2014
And so, the day has arrived, when 13 becomes 6. The Man Booker shortlist was announced last week, with the following titles making the cut: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, Joshua Ferris (Viking) The...
Category: Europe
Review: Frank
How do you get inside the head of a man whose head is inside a papier-mâché head? In the 80s and early 90s Frank Sidebottom’s painted noggin was a strangely familiar sight on Britain’s...
An Older, Wiser Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi Takes Over
With the revelation of Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor, I was deeply skeptical, and a bit dismayed: Yet again, the series had gone with a white man, refusing to buck a long tradition in which white...
From the Booker Longlist: Richard Powers’ Orfeo
“Someone hums a muted tune, a lullaby from another planet. Then the line goes dead.” Insofar as this year’s Booker longlist has a theme or themes (other than “Life! What does it all MEAN!”...
Fatphobia on the Great British Bake-Off
The BBC’s Great British Bake-Off is back for another season, much to the delight of those of us who have an odd fascination for food-based reality TV competitions. One wouldn’t think that baking...
The Man Booker Prize Longlist 2014
This year’s Man Booker Prize, in its first outing since the controversial rule change, was widely tipped to be The Coming of the Americans writ large. Previously open only to novels by Commonwealth...
A Quickie with Michael Lucas: The Gay Porn Mogul Discusses “Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda”
Michael Lucas is the most mainstreamed, provocative, and controversial figure in gay adult entertainment” according to his website, and it’s hard not to believe the hype. A sort of David O....
Russia’s NATO Fears
In a muscular speech on March 18th before a joint session of the Russian parliament announcing the annexation of Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin invoked a deep sense of grievance about the...
The Ten Books You Need To Read Before You Die!
There has been so many books published over the years in both classic and contemporary genres that it is so hard to know what is valuable or interesting to read and what is not. In this article I aim...
Housing Children With Adults: Ireland’s Mental Health Shame
The child rights spotlight is firmly on Ireland at the moment. The latest harrowing news is that, in 2013, eighty-three children were placed in adult psychiatric units. The Code of Practice Relating...