Archive for 2009
Mr Bradley and the murderous book club
If you happen to be in the LA sprawl this weekend, come on out to West Hollywood for the WeHo book festival. I’m doing two events on Sunday, an interview at 1:15 and a panel on spirituality and fiction at 3:45. ** We’ve started a new feature over at the LRK online book club this…
Read MoreRadio 4
Hilarie, one of my Friends on Facebook, located the Radio 4 piece on Stilton in Stilton. Listen in pleasure, even those of you who don’t like cheese.
Read MoreStilton, we hardly knew ye
One of the more delightful aspects of British culture is their determination to cling to the radio as an art form. Long stretches behind the wheel of the car becomes a seat in a theatre or lecture hall, with the same disinclination to climb out that one has with an audio book—more so because it’s…
Read MoreOctober? already?
The sign of a successful holiday is that the house looks very strange when you return. Did I have that mottled grey Corian on the counter before I left? Well, yes, but only for the past 7 years, so that’s all right. And now that I’m back and looking at my kitchen calendar, I see…
Read MoreWe have a name
After considerable to-ing and fro-ing, most of which was well-mannered, Random House and its author have a name for LRKing’s next book, formerly known as The Green Man, to be published in June 2010: The God of the Hive
Read MoreWriter on the ground
It’s always reassuring when memory and photographs combine to create a correct setting for a scene, rather than a setting absolutely impossible for what you’d intended. I finally got into London yesterday to check on the details of Westminster Bridge, which plays a major part in the ending scenes of The Green Man (name to…
Read MoreLondon Calling
In the early Twenties, BBC (the radio variety) used the phrase “London calling” as its call sign, informing the world that London was still up and active. During the War, the phrase took on overtones that were both poignant and pugnacious: We’re still here, damn your eyes! I like London, despite there being far too…
Read MoreOver the hills to Calke
For twenty years, one of my favorite places in Britain has been Calke Abbey, not far from the gloriously named Ashby de la Zouche in Derbyshire. The National Trust took possession of the property in 1984 and embraced its idiosyncratic nature of it by treating and presenting Calke as “a country house in decline.” The…
Read MoreBooks and dream libraries
Laraine was the winner of the signed copy of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley. We’re discussing the book this month over at the Virtual Book Club, and Alan will join us—or, me, for a discussion towards the end of the month. In the meantime, here in the UK I…
Read MoreImpossible loyalties
Oxford is my second home. I’m not much of one for cities, and there’s no doubt that’s what Oxford is, but especially now the authorities have banned private motor traffic in the town center, it feels more like a really crowded village than a large manufacturing city. So Thursday was an Oxford day, with a…
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