Brit reviews the second novel by Terry Stiastny (an occasional Dabbler), and finds it a subtle, ingeniously-crafted tale of betrayal and comeuppance... Terry Stiastny’s debut novel Acts of Omission - which won the 2014 Paddy Power Political Novel of the Year (and was reviewed on The Dabbler here) - established the ... Read More...

Brit reviews the superb new 'anti-cookbook' from the mighty Jonathan Meades...   The first thing I do with a cookbook is have a quick flick through to assess how effortful is the gist. On opening The Plagiarist in the Kitchen I found: To kill an eel you need a brick and a concrete surface. ... Read More...

Nige reviews a handy new guidebook... The publishers Plexus, perhaps emboldened by my unearned reputation as ‘Cravat Wearer of the Year’, sent me a copy of this handsomely produced little volume to see if I might be interested in it. Of course I was. Manly Manners for the Impeccable Gent is a ... Read More...

Nige watches Tony Palmer's curious 1995 film about Henry Purcell and finds that the music triumphs over the clunking polemics... On Christmas Day in 1995, Channel 4's TV treat was a two and a half hour film about Henry Purcell (how times change!). I didn't watch England, My England at the ... Read More...

Having recommended the remarkable novel The Book of Ebenezer Le Page in our 1p Book Review feature, Nige enjoys the story of its mysterious author in a new biography...It’s a great story: a young art student comes across an elderly man who is living a reclusive life in a seaside town. ... Read More...

Brit reviews Jon Hotten's new novel set in the debauched world of 1980s heavy metal - plus, you can win one of five signed copies... Fashion, it is often said, is cyclical. Mods, beards, drainpipe trousers, home-brewed beer...they all go in and out and then come around again. Nile Rodgers, whose ... Read More...

Brit reviews a new book that collects four decades' worth of pictures of preachers and hecklers at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park... If you’re on Facebook you’ll have discovered that some of your acquaintances, who seemed sane enough in real life, are actually pretty mad. I refer to a specific form ... Read More...

Nige reviews two short story collections by 20th Century greats, newly published by Turnpike Books, and finds cause for rejoicing... I recently wrote about Weep Not My Wanton, a selection of short stories by the all but forgotten A.E. Coppard, published by Turnpike Books. Now Turnpike have brought out two more ... Read More...

Nige reviews The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy by Michael McCarthy, published this month, and finds a book 'full of joy and wonder and luminous moments'... If you're of a certain age - I guess 50s and upwards - you'll remember this: driving in the country at night (well, being driven ... Read More...

  As new free TV channel Spike shows Breaking Bad from the beginning, Jon Hotten looks at why the tale of Walter White's transformation from mild chemistry teacher to terrifying crime lord is 'the great modern study of male mid-life resentment'... About ten minutes into the first episode of Breaking Bad, Walter White ... Read More...