Books & Poetry

Benny’s parents’ grave is a kitsch heap, which annoys the hell out of librarian Desirée whenever she goes to the graveyard on her lunchbreak to eat sandwiches by her late...

There’s something about the capacity for both blistering intelligence and reckless abandon that makes for a thoroughly engaging protagonist. Whether it’s Irvine Welsh’s Renton...

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...