My blog
This 60s girl group has captured my soul
I’ve been a fan of the Flirtations for all of eight days. Admittedly I’m a little late to the party, given that they settled in the UK before I was born, but I’m pleased I found them all the same. Those clever little algorithms at YouTube must take the credit. As I was saying to a […]
The PJ O’Rourke principle
I’ve been thinking a lot about the American satirist PJ O’Rourke recently – in particular his funny, acerbic travel books, which I became fond of in the nineties. I tend not to bother with travel articles, because (a) they’re usually aimed at well-off families and (b) you can almost guarantee that stories about the developing […]
The making of… Criterion’s 1984 DVD
It’s eight months since my book George Orwell on Screen came out in America, and I’m still not rich. Far from it, actually. But being a published author has opened doors for me, I must admit. The very talented AL Kennedy wrote an effusive foreword for it, which pleased me no end, as did the fact that Orwell biographer DJ […]