Tag: books

The role of expert and intellectual in the politics of social change and trust in the concept of a leadership that achieves the sense of stability conducive to effective change.

October 9, 2025

The role of expert and intellectual in the politics of social change and trust in the concept of a leadership that achieves the sense of stability conducive to effective change. As I opined about Elon Musk yesterday, I  wondered whether I was oversimplifying the phenomenon he represented  – a man keen to assert his origins … More The role of expert and intellectual in the politics of social change and trust in the concept of a leadership that achieves the sense of stability conducive to effective change.

The appreciation of art is not a matter of ‘personal choice’ or ‘favour’; it is a duty. This is so not only for its maker but its reading, for reading is, in part, co-making.

October 2, 2025

The appreciation of art is not a matter of ‘personal choice’ or ‘favour’; it is a duty. This is so not only for its maker but its reading, for reading is, in part, co-making. Duty, of course, does not exclude personal pleasure if it does exclude banal ideas of choice between pleasures. The quotation and … More The appreciation of art is not a matter of ‘personal choice’ or ‘favour’; it is a duty. This is so not only for its maker but its reading, for reading is, in part, co-making.

‘Let you in? What like “in” in? …// “With” us? that’s not possible / But, beside us, that’s “doable” / ..’ A place ‘in the mountains’ or, as it truly is, ‘in the margins’. The drama of being put ‘out of place’. This is a blog anticipating seeing ‘Bacchae’ by Nima Teleghani, ‘after Euripides’.

September 25, 2025

‘Let you in? What like “in” in? …// “With” us? that’s not possible / But, beside us, that’s “doable” / ..’ A place ‘in the mountains’ or, as it truly is, ‘in the margins’. [1] The drama of being put ‘out of place’. This is a blog anticipating seeing Bacchae by Nima Teleghani, ‘after Euripides’. … More ‘Let you in? What like “in” in? …// “With” us? that’s not possible / But, beside us, that’s “doable” / ..’ A place ‘in the mountains’ or, as it truly is, ‘in the margins’. The drama of being put ‘out of place’. This is a blog anticipating seeing ‘Bacchae’ by Nima Teleghani, ‘after Euripides’.

‘“Twa Boabs”, the man laughs. “A matching pair!”’ You wait forever for a queer Ayrshire Scottish artist intent on rivaling the phallocentric Robert Burns, then ‘Two Roberts’ come at once. This is a blog on Damian Barr (2025) ‘The Two Roberts’.

September 21, 2025

‘“Twa Boabs”, the man laughs. “A matching pair!”’[1] You wait forever for a queer Ayrshire Scottish artist intent on rivaling the phallocentric Robert Burns, then ‘Two Roberts’ come at once. This is a blog on Damian Barr (2025) The Two Roberts, Edinburgh, Canongate. The power of Damian Barr’s novel The Two Roberts lies in its … More ‘“Twa Boabs”, the man laughs. “A matching pair!”’ You wait forever for a queer Ayrshire Scottish artist intent on rivaling the phallocentric Robert Burns, then ‘Two Roberts’ come at once. This is a blog on Damian Barr (2025) ‘The Two Roberts’.

The best piece of advice is to read Arundhati Roy’s ‘Mother Mary Comes To me’ as soon as possible. This is a blog on that with a note on re-reading Freud’s ‘A Child Is Being Beaten’.

September 18, 2025

The best piece of advice is to read Arundhati Roy’s ‘Mother Mary Comes To Me‘ as soon as possible. There is an episode in Arundhati Roy’s 2025 memoir Mother Mary Comes To Me in which her brother, having brought home a school report saying he was an ‘average student’, is seen by her taken into … More The best piece of advice is to read Arundhati Roy’s ‘Mother Mary Comes To me’ as soon as possible. This is a blog on that with a note on re-reading Freud’s ‘A Child Is Being Beaten’.

What does your ideal home look like? Of course, it shall look like number 1, Nova Scotia House. This is a blog on Charlie Porter’s 2025 novel, ‘Nova Scotia House’, and the impossible  queer magical thinking it makes possible.

September 11, 2025

What does your ideal home look like? What does your ideal home look like? Of course, it shall look like number 1, Nova Scotia House. This is a blog on Charlie Porter’s 2025 novel, ‘Nova Scotia House’, and the impossible queer magical thinking it makes possible. The prompt question here is a kind of trick! … More What does your ideal home look like? Of course, it shall look like number 1, Nova Scotia House. This is a blog on Charlie Porter’s 2025 novel, ‘Nova Scotia House’, and the impossible  queer magical thinking it makes possible.

Topics are so aery a thing that you are only ever ‘informed about’ them, but as for ‘subjects’: only they can ‘inform’ one.

September 10, 2025

Topics are so aery a thing that you are only ever ‘informed about’ them, but as for ‘subjects’: only they can ‘inform’ one. As so often, this question attracted me not because I have anything substantial to say about it in answer but because so much of its terminology has had importance to me in … More Topics are so aery a thing that you are only ever ‘informed about’ them, but as for ‘subjects’: only they can ‘inform’ one.

Pinkwashing is not a trait, it is a strategy used to deceive. Where ‘gay rights’ trump human rights then the best trait of our humanity – that desiring free self-expression is being twisted for anti-queer means. This blog works out some issues with the help of Elias Jahshan (2025) ‘This Queer Arab Family: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Arab Writers’.

September 7, 2025

Pinkwashing is not a trait, it is a strategy used to deceive. Where ‘gay rights’ trump human rights then the best trait of our humanity – that desiring free self-expression is being twisted for anti-queer means.  This blog works out some issues with the help of Elias Jahshan (2025) ‘This Queer Arab Family: An Anthology … More Pinkwashing is not a trait, it is a strategy used to deceive. Where ‘gay rights’ trump human rights then the best trait of our humanity – that desiring free self-expression is being twisted for anti-queer means. This blog works out some issues with the help of Elias Jahshan (2025) ‘This Queer Arab Family: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Arab Writers’.

If it is the job of the novelist is to render the form of memory through many aspects of mind and bodily sensations, then this is one of the most superb novels ever. This is a blog on Claire Adam (2025) ‘Love Forms’.

September 6, 2025

‘Hills: … For many years these hills stayed safely in my memory. Even now, I can bring them to mind, or the feeling of being amidst them. Sometimes when I’m alone, my right hand lifts, and the hand sweeps diagonally upward, as if to trace the curving flank of one of those hills: a slow, … More If it is the job of the novelist is to render the form of memory through many aspects of mind and bodily sensations, then this is one of the most superb novels ever. This is a blog on Claire Adam (2025) ‘Love Forms’.

This is a blog on the rich novel that is Jonathan Buckley’s (2025) ‘One Boat’.

August 31, 2025

In metafiction, the narrator may make ad-hoc decisions about the nature of the fiction and adopt, if not fully implement, them in the very moment of narrating that fiction, as in the end of  Jonathan Buckley’s 2025 novel, One Boat where it appears that the narrator decides (on authoritative masculine persuasion) that her book is … More This is a blog on the rich novel that is Jonathan Buckley’s (2025) ‘One Boat’.

It brings ‘a tear of joy’ finding truth in fiction and authenticity in mere performance. Here is an example: Liz Duffy Adams’ ‘Born with Teeth’; Reflections after reading the text.

August 30, 2025

It brings ‘a tear of joy’ finding truth in fiction and authenticity in mere performance. Here is an example: Liz Duffy Adams’ Born with Teeth; Reflections after reading the text. In an earlier blog post at this link, I  said that I would revisit Liz Duffy Adams play Born with Teeth once I had chance … More It brings ‘a tear of joy’ finding truth in fiction and authenticity in mere performance. Here is an example: Liz Duffy Adams’ ‘Born with Teeth’; Reflections after reading the text.

The ‘Nostos’ theme absorbs all the energy we ought to have for thinking about our responsibility for creating ‘homelessness’

August 25, 2025

The ‘Nostos’ theme absorbs all the energy we ought to have for thinking about our responsibility for creating ‘homelessness’ I wonder if the magic associated with the film E.T. – The Extraterrestrial is not a version of the staple myth of the Western world – the Homecoming or Nostos theme. It is the stuff of … More The ‘Nostos’ theme absorbs all the energy we ought to have for thinking about our responsibility for creating ‘homelessness’