There was a song that Genie and I used to listen to in our early days together, as we drove around America getting to know both the country and each other. The lyrics went: At the time, we never could just take a train. We always had to be back in the office on Monday [...]
Tag Archives | featured
Ten years ago: Voluntary poverty in New York City
30th April 2003 A young Japanese woman with purple hair tripped along First Street, clutching to her chest all the books that she couldn’t fit in her fashionably miniscule backpack. A graffiti-covered computer keyboard dangled cryptically from a lamppost. Two small dogs yapped and strained at their leashes as they passed each other, almost escaping [...]
Some interviews
I’ve been interviewed on a few book blogs lately, talking about my new novel A Virtual Love, and also my writing in general. If you’re interested, here are the links: Manchester book blogger The Workshy Fop asked me about the political dimensions of the book, and about my views on blogging and internet culture Ghanaian-born, [...]
Giveaway: Granta Best of Young British Novelists 2003
The announcement this week of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists 2013 reminded me that I have a spare copy of the collection from 2003, featuring young talents like Zadie Smith, Monica Ali, Adam Thirlwell, Hari Kunzru and David Mitchell. If you’d like me to send a free copy to you, just leave a comment [...]
How to Improve your Foreign Language Immediately
This is a very slim book – just 95 pages – and yet it comes with a big promise in the title and big endorsements from Shekhtman’s former students in places like The New York Times and The Pentagon. Surprisingly, the book does deliver on its promise. Shekhtman’s technique is not to improve your language [...]
Ian McEwan’s early writing influences
Ian McEwan was interviewed in his university magazine this month, talking about his early influences and how he became a writer. Since it’s an interesting story, and some of you may possibly not have seen the latest copy of Falmer: The University of Sussex Magazine, I thought I’d summarise it here. Failure and disappointment The [...]
A few updates
Well, it’s been a busy few days. First there was the launch party for A Virtual Love, which you can see pictures of here if you missed them before. Then the following things happened, in no particular order: Got a wonderful review over on Tales from the Reading Room - “As a portrait of modern love [...]
The book launch
Thanks to everyone who came to my book launch on Wednesday night! It was a wonderful evening, by which I mean that lots of people turned up and I didn’t botch my speech or reading For those of you who couldn’t make it, due to minor inconveniences like living on different continents, here are the [...]
The Quiddity of Will Self by Sam Mills
This book is unlike any other I’ve read. That, in itself, is a reason I’m glad I read it. In a world in which too many books are reminiscent of other books, this one is truly unique. It may sound a little odd to praise the book’s uniqueness, when it has another writer’s name and [...]
Giveaway: Crow by Ted Hughes
Happy Friday! Today I’m giving away a free copy of Crow, a beautiful collection of poems by Ted Hughes. How to enter Just leave a comment on this post. The winner will be drawn randomly, with tweets and other social media mentions counting as extra entries. So hit the Tweet button to the left of [...]
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The next big thing…
