Joe Boyd - Record Producer/Writer. I've been reading Boyd's memoirs on the way home from London. Its great stuff, nice blend of gossip (not vindictive) and serious music appreciation, especially in relation to the history of popular music on both sides of the Atlantic. Its written well and edited well so its a great airplane read when nothing has you nodding off faster than wordy prose.
Leonardo Sciascia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
number of his books demonstrate how the Mafia manages to sustain itself in the face of the anomie inherent in Sicilian life: The Day of the Owl and Equal Danger being amongst the most powerful. His forensic analysis of the kidnapping and assassination of Aldo Moro, a prominent Christian Democrat, in his book The Moro Affair is masterly. His work is intricate and displays a longing for justice attempting to show how corrupt Italian society had become and remains. His linking of politicians, intrigue, and the Mafia gave him a high profile, which was very much at odds with his private self. This resulted in his becoming widely disliked for his criticism of Giulio Andreotti, then Prime Minister, for his lack of action towards freeing Moro and answering the demands of the Brigate Rosse (Red Brigade).
I first heard of him a few weeks ago when I discovered some of his books in a London bookshop - fascinating stuff.
This photo was taken at 11.30am on my 53rd birthday in Metropolitan Books, Exmouth Market, Islington, London.
Steve Keen, University of Western Sydney economist (and someone I worked with for a few years back in the day), believes it matters very much according to a paper he released in a media blitz earlier this week
Australians have an unsustainable debt addiction, which will be hard to kick, and painful to recover from. A new report by CPD fellow Steve Keen has found that in just 18 months time we may be spending as much of the national income on interest payments as we were in 1990 - when interest rates were at 17 per cent.
Australia's level of irresponsible lending isn’t as high as that which brought on the US subprime crisis, but because our debt to GDP ratio is growing so much faster the impact of any slowdown will be more severe here – and the pain will be much more widely spread.
Not sure I share the angst but its a good read.
He also has a blog; Steve Keen’s Oz Debtwatch.
The Road to Surfdom » Blog Archive » Blindness meltdown.
I managed to lose my copy of Blindness for most of the week - left it in a park near our house. Went back when I realised, four days later, and it was still there. Could be the ultimate review, I guess.
People never seem to steal books. I've been burgled half a dozen times or more during the past 3 decades and lost lots of stuff but never a single book.
Link: Happy Antipodean.
No more of this book sale, I promise myself, frequently, but return in anticipation of new discoveries.
I know the feeling, only too well.
Wikipedia Born 2 February 1882 Rathgar Dublin Ireland (d. 1941). Most important novel, Ulysses, released 1922. Novel takes place on 16 June, celebrated each year as Bloomsday.
Many rate it as the best novel of the twentieth-century.
Wikipedia: "Ulysses is a massive novel: 250,000 words in total from a vocabulary
of 30,000 words, with most editions weighing in at between 644 to 1000
pages, and divided into 18 chapters, or "episodes" as they are referred
to in most scholarly circles. The book has been the subject of much
controversy and scrutiny, ranging from early obscenity trials to
protracted textual "Joyce Wars". Today the novel is regarded as a
masterwork in Modernist writing, celebrated for its groundbreaking stream-of-consciousness technique, highly experimental prose—full of puns, parodies, allusions—as well as for its rich characterizations and broad humour."
Reading matters: Book Group: This is a modern Irish masterpiece and one of the best novels I've read for a long time. It is slow a little difficult for the first 50 pages but after that it is hard to put down and the atmosphere and mood is likely to last with you for a long time.
Some reviews and links:
Eamon Grennan, Irish University Review
Podcast of John McGahern reading excerpts from his work and being interviewed by Hermione Lee
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