Category Archives: Journalism

Another really good review

John Carey reviews Fishing in Utopia,in the Sunday Times: thoughtful and illuminating, with a kindly quote towards the end: Fishing in Utopia is a lament for a lost Eden. But it is more than that. Essentially it is a story … Continue reading

Posted in Journalism, Literature, Sweden | 5 Comments

Buy this week’s New Yorker

for a wonderful essay on Chesterton by Adam Gopnik (not online) which tackles the question of his anti-semitism head on. I had not realised quite how vile it was; as Gopnik says, if he was a man of his time, … Continue reading

Posted in Journalism, Literature | 1 Comment

Book reviews

I am exhausted from a rather wonderful launch party last night, but the first review of Fishing in Utopia is up, in the Economist. Very gratifying, with just the right touch of vinegar to keep it from being cloying—did you … Continue reading

Posted in Blather, Journalism, Literature | 5 Comments

Anglican energies

This post will veer, you’ll notice, between the sublime and the faintly ridiculous. I have often wondered, when dealing with the clergy of the Church of England, how it is that such palpably intelligent and thoughtful people, many of whom … Continue reading

Posted in God, Journalism | Comments Off on Anglican energies

Also, I may murder my own mother

I went round to see her this afternoon, because her smoke alarm was cheeping, and tried the change the battery. When I twisted it, as the embossed instructions said to do, I wrenched the whole damn thing off the ceiling. … Continue reading

Posted in Blather, God, Journalism | 1 Comment

Incidentally

The current issue of the New Yorker is a real winner. There are some classic cartoons, an unspeakably grim story by Annie Proulx about lives of two poor soldiers from Wyoming, and a series of small, thoughtful and illuminating stories … Continue reading

Posted in Journalism, War | 1 Comment

Widespread revulsion at Andrew Brown

Various people—well, the religious affairs journalists Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Damian Thompson, and Ruth Gledhill—have complained about my column this week in the Church Times on the grounds that what I wrote about Chris Morgan was “despicable” (Damian), “totally distasteful … incredibly … Continue reading

Posted in God, Journalism | 37 Comments

More things that Telegraph readers say

The Guardian has a piece today lamenting that there is an elected BNP councillor who has a blog at the Telegraph site. Fair enough; but if the man has been elected and if what he posts is legal it’s hard … Continue reading

Posted in British politics, Journalism | 4 Comments

Paging Fred Clark

Dear Fred, not all the fanmail you get is spam. Some needs a reply …

Posted in God, Housekeeping, Journalism | 2 Comments

Don’t have sex with Roman Catholics

Last Monday I went to see Nick Davies talking at Wolfson College, and in consequence bought his book; quite by coincidence. Kevin Myers’ memoir of life in Belfast Watching the Door turned up on Friday, so I read that too. … Continue reading

Posted in British politics, Journalism | 6 Comments