‘…. have always been very unmanly in my strivings to get things all compact and in good train’.[1]  ‘For all which idle ease I think I must be damned. I begin to have dreadful suspicions that this fruitless way of life is not looked upon by satisfaction by the open eyes above’.[2] Queering the need … More ‘…. have always been very unmanly in my strivings to get things all compact and in good train’. ‘For all which idle ease I think I must be damned. I begin to have dreadful suspicions that this fruitless way of life is not looked upon by satisfaction by the open eyes above’. Queering the need to work in works of art in Edward Fitzgerald’s ‘Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’.

Visualizing the Male Erotic: Art, Pornography and Psychiatric Labelling There is for me an iconic scene in Steve McQueen’s Shame where the hero Brandon, played so often wordlessly but brilliantly and intensely by Michael Fassbender, and ever on the look for his next high on sexual experience, cruises the corridors of a gay club’s sex … More Visualizing the Male Erotic: Art, Pornography and Psychiatric Labeling

Moral vision and autobiography: Seeing selves differently for the first time. @TheCleggAgency. Reflecting again on the nature of complex moral empathy in Bill Clegg’s (2020) The End of the Day London, Jonathan Cape. What do we learn from examining the author’s two volumes of memoirs: Bill Clegg (2012a.,b.) Portrait of an Addict as a Young … More Moral vision and autobiography: Seeing selves differently for the first time. @TheCleggAgency

For further reflection based on Clegg’s autobiographical work see https://stevebamlett.home.blog/2020/11/28/moral-vision-and-autobiography-seeing-selves-differently-for-the-first-time-thecleggagency/ Reflecting on the moral life of Joe Lopez. ‘She thinks how lonely his life must have been, how few skills he had to interact with people he loved or to navigate a world where he was, if not invisible, translucent enough that people looked through … More Being ‘a necessary interaction for most of the people she encountered each day, not a desired or chosen one’. Reflecting on a thought on the nature of complex moral empathy in Bill Clegg’s (2020) ‘The End of the Day’ London, Jonathan Cape. @TheCleggAgency

‘Rougetel scratches his ankle in sleep. As vulnerable and exposed as the corner of a book’ (my emphasis).[1] Reflecting on Nicholas Shakespeare’s (2020) The Sandpit London, Harvill Secker. Andrew Taylor, a considerable writer of well-known detective thrillers, disputes the high praise of William Boyd cited on this books back cover, saying: ‘When it comes down … More ‘Rougetel scratches his ankle in sleep. As vulnerable and exposed as the corner of a book’. Reflecting on Nicholas Shakespeare’s (2020) ‘The Sandpit’.

‘There is a great deal of losing and forgetting about Ravenna as well as physical dismantling, which is also a form of forgetting.’[1] Reflecting on the ways and means of history as a form of remembering the lost body of the past’s being. Judith Herrin’s (2020) ‘Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe’ London, Allen … More ‘There is a great deal of losing and forgetting about Ravenna as well as physical dismantling, which is also a form of forgetting.’[1] Reflecting on the ways and means of history as a form of remembering the lost body of the past’s being. Judith Herrin’s (2020) ‘Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe’

 ‘“You poor man – … . We must seem like the characters in one of those novels about mad people in country houses.” She laughed again, …’.[1] Reflecting on John Banville’s ‘Snow’ London, Faber. This is a novel like no other by John Banville, in that it’s status vis-à-vis the role and status of the … More ‘“You poor man – … . We must seem like the characters in one of those novels about mad people in country houses.” She laughed again, …’. Reflecting on John Banville’s ‘Snow’.

Art Deco By the Sea: Reflecting on class, sex and the arts of the shaped environment. A blog on an exhibition (seen at Laing Gallery Newcastle) & catalogue: Ghislaine Wood (ed.) (2020) Art Deco By The Sea Norwich, Sainsbury’s Centre for Visual Arts. Exhibitions like this one make an important contribution to how we understand … More ‘Art Deco By the Sea’: Reflecting on class, sex and the arts of the shaped environment. A blog on an exhibition (seen at Laing Gallery Newcastle) & catalogue: Ghislaine Wood (ed.) (2020)

Some reflections on ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’ Director:  Ciro Guerra. Writers:  J.M. Coetzee (based on the novel by), J.M. Coetzee (screenplay by). Stars:  Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson  … – if I had gone on a hunting trip … , and come back. and without reading it, or after skimming over it with an incurious eye, put my seal … More Some reflections on ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’ Director: Ciro Guerra. Writers: J.M. Coetzee. Stars: Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson

‘… he saw, trailing behind him, the great mistake that had been his belief in himself … ’.[1] Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain (2020) London, Chatto & Windus. Let’s start with the personal context of a reflexive reader. There are some facts that matter in determining to yourself how you read novels. I am … More ‘… he saw, trailing behind him, the great mistake that had been his belief in himself … ’.[1] ‘Islands of Mercy’ by Rose Tremain (2020) [Self-mount to Twitter].

‘We are all queer. If you say you are not you are outed’. Volume 2 of a life of Lucian Freud: William Feaver (2020) The Lives Of Lucian Freud: Fame London, Bloomsbury. Note on Volume 1 appears in: https://stevebamlett.home.blog/2019/09/16/first-reading-of-william-feavers-2019-the-lives-of-lucian-freud-youth/ In commenting on Volume 1 of this biography I tried to define the way in which … More ‘We are all queer. If you say you are not you are outed’. Volume 2 of a life of Lucian Freud: William Feaver (2020) ‘The Lives Of Lucian Freud: Fame’

‘Writing is routinely described as ‘creative’ – this has never struck me as the correct word. … To plant a bulb (I imagine, I’ve never done it) is to participate in some small way in the cyclic miracle of creation. Writing is control’.[1] ‘Intimations: Six Essays’ (2020): Zadie Smith. London, Penguin. How refreshing it is … More ‘Writing is routinely described as ‘creative’ – this has never struck me as the correct word. … To plant a bulb (I imagine, I’ve never done it) is to participate in some small way in the cyclic miracle of creation. Writing is control’. ‘Intimations: Six Essays’ (2020): Zadie Smith. London, Penguin.