Category Archives: Literature

Book Review: John Crace ~ A Farewell To Calm: The new normal survival guide (2021)

Posted on January 17, 2022 by odeboyz

John Crace is the Guardian newspapers parliamentary sketch writer and satirist. He’s very witty and this book is a collection of his articles which cover the pandemic and, especially, Boris Johnson. It’s fair to say that Crace despises Johnson. As … Continue reading →

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An Equal Opportunities Santa

Posted on December 20, 2021 by odeboyz
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Book Review: Tim Bouverie ~ Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War (2019)

Posted on December 13, 2021 by odeboyz

This is a ground breaking account of the 1930s. It’s meticulous history. The front cover ‘blurb’ quotes Antony Beevor saying, “An astonishing debut.’ and Beevor is one of the Britain’s greatest historians. Great history writing is literature. Bouverie welds his … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Seth Greenland ~ The Angry Buddhist (2012)

Posted on November 4, 2021 by odeboyz

A brilliant satire is exceptionally difficult to bring off and a *Must Read*. This is that novel. Satire demands a decent knowledge of the subject. Well don’t worry. This is American politics. The star is an incumbent who’s running a … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Volker Kutscher ~ The Fatherland Files (2019) (Translator Niall Sellar)

Posted on October 21, 2021 by odeboyz

Fans of Philip Kerr and his wonderful series featuring Berlin policeman Bernie Gunter will warm to this German version. The book reeks of authenticity in its depiction of pre-Nazi Berlin and the insidious take-over of the police by them. The … Continue reading →

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Book Reviews: Peter James ~ Find them dead (2020) and Peter James ~ Left you dead (2021)

Posted on October 11, 2021 by odeboyz

Peter James is a prolific author indeed he’s a book-a-year man. His creation is Detective Inspector Roy Grace who’s now a Superintendent and is angling to be a Chief Superintendent. Grace has been transformed into a careerist. The first book … Continue reading →

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Black Lives Matter: Miles Davis 1959: New York City

Posted on October 7, 2021 by odeboyz

Background Miles Davis was a jazz superstar. In this encounter, with a red neck policeman in New York City, it made no difference. All that mattered was white supremacy and the power of the badge. The officer wasn’t sacked for … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Donna Tartt ~ The Little Friend (2002)

Posted on September 27, 2021 by odeboyz

This is the third Deep South novel I’ve read in the last few months and probably the best. S A Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland, was a terrific read but this one hits literary heights. The storyline is based on the impact … Continue reading →

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An implausible anecdote about Marcel Proust

Posted on September 9, 2021 by odeboyz

“…Proust himself had said that he wrote the opening and closing paragraphs of À la recherche one after the other, and then just filled in the other 1.2 million words in the middle.” Salmon, Peter. An Event, Perhaps (p. 110). … Continue reading →

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Mark Twain on Stupidity

Posted on September 6, 2021 by odeboyz
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