Posts

• Loneliness and riot

  What a vision of loneliness and riot the thought of Margaret Cavendish brings to mind! as if some giant…

  Sep 17, '25

• One nation, under drugs

  Ocean Vuong is a generous and compassionate speaker and writer, and a subtle observer of softness and innocence. In his…
  Sep 13, '25

• On borrowed space

  I keep an archive on this site of blog posts about a gardening project I embarked upon during the pandemic.…
  Sep 10, '25

• Farewell, void

  I finished reading Novik’s Scholomance Trilogy with mixed feelings, and I’m inclined to be a little cautious expressing the more…
  Sep 5, '25

• Big Swiss

  In many ways, I’m the ideal audience for Jen Beagin’s Big Swiss. It’s a novel about a lonely, confused, and…
  Sep 5, '25

• Good Strong American Sleep

  I am truly amazed by how much I loved Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I feel I…
  Aug 31, '25

• Redemption

  I’ve wanted to write something about George Herbert’s poem ‘Redemption’ for a while, as I’ve come back to it over…
  Aug 20, '25

• A Deadly Education

  I listened to a podcast recently in which the interviewee reflected on the brutality of his years at an English…
  Aug 18, '25

• 'Cabbages is beautiful!' A review of Edna Ferber's 'So Big'

  “Who would be interested in a novel about a middle-aged woman in a calico dress with wispy hair and…

  Apr 28, '21