Books & Poetry

When Umberto Eco writes about mundane stuff – football, Disney World, porn – he is educational, inquisitive, full of fresh angles. When Jean Baudrillard does it, he’s as...

Susan Faludi’s new book would not have been necessary if the American (and indeed UK) press had done its job. The aftermath of 9/11 presented the American Right and its cheerleaders in the...

To write a book that convincingly describes the path of classical music through the turbulent twentieth century is an act worthy of celebration. To write one, as Alex Ross has, that is...

Blue Baker has been feeling pretty dark since his dad’s heart stopped suddenly one day. Urged by a school counsellor to work through his emotions by writing them down, he scribbles up a vivid...

John Cromer, the narrator of Adam Mars-Jones’ new novel (his first for 15 years), calls himself Pilcrow, after a ‘specialised piece of punctuation’ that marks the end of a...

In his first collection of short stories,  Gerard Woodward falls squarely between the comic lunacy of American short-form virtuoso George Saunders and the everyday rhapsodies of Raymond...

Clare Morrall’s third novel is a subtle, elegant affair dealing with family, marriage and parenthood. The protagonist Jessica Fontaine is a divorced concert pianist and sometime librarian...

Transform a teacup into royalty, record fishy thoughts, customise a pair of trainers or draw a bouquet of flowers in the style of Jan Frans Van Dael – there are hours worth of entertainment...

‘One morning, the people of the island found a man on the beach, where fate and ocean currents had washed his raft ashore. When he saw them coming, he stood up. He wasn’t like...

It’s never a good sign when a potentially brilliant novel begins with clunky innuendo. In the first few pages of Manil Suri’s long-awaited ‘The Age of Shiva’, there is a...