Some sound advice for our younger readers today, as Steerforth discovers a 1950s sex guide for boys... Not long ago I found a very instructive book called On Becoming a Man - A Book for Teen-Age Boys by Harold Shryock, M.A., M.D., a teacher at the University of Loma Linda in California. Published in ... Read More...
Following his pieces about publisher's sales reps and his first year working in Waterstones, Steerforth completes his book business trilogy by asking: Who becomes a bookseller?... What type of people work in a bookshop? Are they passionate, slightly unworldly bibliophiles, who live and breathe books? Or are they a bunch of slackers, who break out ... Read More...
Following on from his hugely entertaining post about life as a bookseller, Steerforth pays tribute to the now-extinct breed of Full English-eating, Austin Montego-driving publishers' sales reps... In my last Dabbler post I wrote about my first year in bookselling and casually mentioned that every publisher's sales rep' used to be ... Read More...
Working at Waterstone's in the early 1990s, Steerforth quickly discovered that bookshops were magnets for eccentrics, kleptomaniacs and the mentally ill - and that was just the staff... Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I spent the best part of 18 years working in bookshops. Where did all the ... Read More...
Steerforth finds that some things can be so boring they exert a curious fascination... There is a point at which things can be so boring that they become interesting again. That applies to people too. When I was a student, I had a temporary job as an assistant in a reference ... Read More...
Ever wondered why sailors' wives retain their youthful looks for so long, or why giants have low sexual energy? 'Professor' R. B. D. Wells has the answers... Curmudgeons who moan about bloggers and Wikipedia argue that the democratic nature of the web has allowed ill-informed, ordinary people to flood the internet ... Read More...
Continuing our 1970s theme, Steerforth recalls that decade's obsession with bizarre dance shows and other strange telly... The above picture shows the Easter story, expressed through the medium of dance. How anyone thought it was a good idea to tell the story of the crucifixion of Jesus through dance and mime, performed ... Read More...
Revealed: the shocking truth about the less well-known Cub Scout badges... When I was eight, a great-uncle offered me the princely sum of 50p to join the local Cub Scouts. I'd never had that much money before and was sorely tempted, but I couldn't bear the idea of having to wear ... Read More...
They don't make politicians like this any more (and it's probably just as well, really)... In today's media age, politicians are subject to such a high degree of scrutiny that it encourages a culture of blandness and conformity. Where are the mavericks? Consider Sir Gerald Nabarro, whose autobiography I discovered one ... Read More...
Steerforth lifts the lid on Gerry Anderson's worst idea - an unintentionally grotesque show so awful that it traumatised a generation despite never even making it onto television... In 1966, at the height of his powers, "supermarionation" creator Gerry Anderson came up with a bold concept for a new television series. He ... Read More...