Category Archives: Biography

Regenesis by George Monbiot (Allen Lane)

Posted on April 6, 2023 by drewsmith28

“It’s a wonderful place for an orchard, but a terrible place for growing fruit.” LIKE all good horror stories we start out slowly, the John Carpenter cruise around the suburban neighbourhood, albeit in this case we are digging in George’s … Continue reading →

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English Food by Diane Purkiss (William Collins)

Posted on March 22, 2023 by drewsmith28

“If historians and readers think they know exactly when food culture in England was stable and not subject to the fickle whims of fashion, they tend to finger breakfast as the changeless moment.” FROM the opening paragraph, above, Diane Purkiss … Continue reading →

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Treacle Walker by Alan Garner (Fourth Estate)

Posted on August 17, 2022 by drewsmith28

“Ragbone! Ragbone! Any rags! Pots for rags.” THERE is a fair amount of subtext here, which you might, or might not, need. A little Latin may help. Alan Garner’s first work was published in 1963. He has been admired and … Continue reading →

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We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole (Head of Zeus)

Posted on August 8, 2022 by drewsmith28

“My parents’ wedding photograph always reminds me of a frontier town in an old western.” FOR anyone with a passing curiosity as to the unfolding events in Ireland over the last 60 years, this will be a rewarding, insightful, enjoyable … Continue reading →

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The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa (Pan Macmillan)

Posted on August 8, 2022 by drewsmith28

“First things first. Granpa’s gone.” THERE is a fair amount of readerly, philosophy here, virtually a fairy story. Schoolboy inherits bookshop from grandfather. Meets talking cat. On a mission. Drops out of school to chagrin of down to earth class … Continue reading →

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The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly (Orion)

Posted on August 8, 2022 by drewsmith28

“Bosch didn’t mind the wait. The view was spectacular.” THERE is quite a large canon of Michael Connelly books these days, thirty one in all, he was first published in 1992 and this one came out in 2016.  I picked … Continue reading →

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Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (Vintage)

Posted on June 10, 2022 by drewsmith28

“In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma“. THE opening paragraphs are an exemplar set up for any work of fiction/faction/reportage. The film version is slated for 2023 … Continue reading →

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Spring Cannot Be Cancelled by David Hockney with Martin Gayford (Thames and Hudson)

Posted on April 22, 2022 by drewsmith28

“I have known David Hockney for a quarter of a century now…” WHEN you look at the fabulous new paintings from David Hockney in a Normandy farmhouse, there is often a tiny detail – a ladder, a bird, a van, … Continue reading →

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Silverview by John Le Carre (Penguin/Viking)

Posted on March 23, 2022 by drewsmith28

“At ten o’clock of a rainswept morning in London’s West End, a young woman in a baggy anorak, a wooden scarf pulled up around her head, strode resolutely into the storm that was roaring down South Audley street”. THE imagery … Continue reading →

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Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Saraband)

Posted on November 12, 2021 by drewsmith28

“Before the end of 2019, I received an email from a Mr Martin Grey of Clacton-on-Sea.” Graeme Macrae Burnet’s published books split into two – on the one hand we have the quasi French detecto entertainments of M. Gorski, here … Continue reading →

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