I was walking down Long Acre with my boyfriend; we wandered into Stanford's to ogle maps and travel books. After having a wander we came to the books table back near the entrance. I was attracted to the dated-in-a-good-way cover of Travels With Myself and Another (from Eland), not only because of the layout and… Continue reading Travels With Myself and Another: Five Journeys From Hell by Martha Gellhorn
Tag: Memoir
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan (2012)
This book is utterly, utterly fascinating. It came to my attention in an email from Karen Browning at Penguin Press. Most unsolicited emails are a bit random and not always worth paying attention to, but I am so glad I read Karen's email properly. This book is worth paying attention to. I read a lot… Continue reading Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan (2012)
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The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker by Janet Groth
I cannot remember how exactly I came across Janet Groth's memoir of her time at The New Yorker. All I remember is that as soon as I did hear about it, I wanted to read it; a lot. Being a Londoner I had no experience of reading The New Yorker but knew of its popularity… Continue reading The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker by Janet Groth
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Henry and June: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin
As those who read my review of Nin's novel A Spy in the House of Love will know, I have always heard of this strange and exotic writer but have never known much about her. This edition of a section of her unexpurgated (uncensored) diary therefore promised to teach me more about the elusive Anais.… Continue reading Henry and June: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin
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Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Blue Nights is a funny little book. The hardback is beautiful, with a blue background and lettering, a black and white photograph of a young Quintana covering the back. Beautiful, but funny. It is several things; but should not be viewed as a sequel to The Year of Magical Thinking. The earlier book was the literary actualisation of… Continue reading Blue Nights by Joan Didion
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Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
The dictionary defines 'truth' as several different things, the first of which is 'quality or state of being true', which seems logical enough. However, it also defines 'truth' as 'honesty; sincerity; genuineness'. These are the aspects of truth that apply most to what one may call a human truth - the truth of things as… Continue reading Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
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The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The New Journalism movement of the 1960s was about reporting the situation exactly as it was by way of the journalist involving themselves in that situation as much as possible. This meant going in and talking to the protestors, spending nights with them in the tents, attending the entire political conference and getting to know the… Continue reading The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
These Little Words 