Tricky Dicky: The Wagner Problem

Bear in mind that there is but one redemption from the curse weighing upon you: self-destruction. Thus spoke not Zarathustra but, of course, music's great bogeyman Richard Wagner, and no prizes for guessing which race he was addressing. The eclipse of this driven genius has often been predicted, and with friends ... Read More...

Men’s Summer Swimwear Stress

Despite today’s laissez-faire approach to dressing, vintage swimwear is all the rage this year. The internet abounds with websites selling original retro bathing costumes and trunks. You can find everything from all-in-one 1920s ensembles to super-snug ‘70s Spandex shorts. This may give men cause for alarm… Choosing beachwear is a source ... Read More...

Porpoises Rescue Dick Van Dyke

Frank Key's brand new paperback, Porpoises Rescue Dick Van Dyke, is now available. Here, exclusively for The Dabbler, he explains the gestation of this masterwork. It was an ordinary day in November last year. By consulting my records I can see that I made no attempt to log the rainfall, temperature, ... Read More...

Fear not, the old verities live on…

There's been a slew of 'what does this say about Britain?' articles in the wake of the News of the World scandal (the answer can be summarised as 'nothing good', by the way). This is from The New York Times and is by an expat journo coming home. He concludes: ...a man ... Read More...

Gary Neville and the Meaning of a Life

  Gary Neville's first England cap coincided with John Major's "put up or shut up" Rose Garden challenge to his party critics early in the blistering summer of '95. I was a young man myself then, flatsharing in central London with friends. It was the fiftieth anniversary of VE-Day, the economy ... Read More...

Journeying Boys meet West End Girls

As regular readers might know, I've written a novel. I took its title from a Hardy poem, Midnight on the Great Western (you can buy Region of Sin for Kindle here). This has been one of my favourite poems since I first read it as a teenager, more than likely whilst, and ... Read More...