One thing and another means I haven’t highlighted my reviews in the latest issue of Shiny New Books, so I’ll kick off with one. I’m on a bit of a spate of hunting out books about reading, since that’s more or less my favourite genre. They are not all that plentiful, but Clive James’ Latest Readings adds to that number – and I reviewed it for Issue 7. You can read the whole review at Shiny New Books, but this intro might entice you further…
I have to confess that when I picked up Latest Readings, I knew very little about Clive James’ life and work. And, indeed, when I put it down I wasn’t much the wiser – but I knew a lot more about his reading tastes. That was why I bought the book: I will run towards books about reading, and was not disappointed in this thoughtful and engaging collection of musings.
I will run right over and read the whole review, since I like books about reading and I am not familiar with Clive James. I might learn something LOL.
I know nothing about Clive James but placed a library hold on this back in August, after reading a very enticing review in the Financial Times. Any book about reading sounds good to me, whether or not I know anything about the author. I’d never heard of Susan Hill when I picked up Howards End is on the Landing and that turned out brilliantly!
This is one I’m very keen to read – off to see if the library have it!
Some of us remember Clive James on TV which began in 1982, hosted by the Australian television critic and satirist Clive James. The series showed funny and bizarre clips from TV shows and adverts from around the world, most notably from the far eastern countries of Japan and Korea.
He is also a poet, comedian, raconteur and commentator. (He even tried a DPhil on Shelly)
If you havent already read it, you might want to look at James’ Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts (2007).
has my pc broken?no blog since the 3rd?