Simon Baker
Head in the Clouds
MacDonald Harris is the pseudonym of Donald Heiney (1921–93), an American professor of literature whose passions for Arctic exploration, sailing and music all feature in The Balloonist, the most highly regarded of his sixteen novels, which was first published in 1976 and which has now been reissued. ‘Highly regarded’ is perhaps misleading, however, since these days his work is seldom read, although one notable admirer is Philip Pullman, who writes the foreword of the reissued book. He attributes Harris’s obscurity to the public’s fondness for writers who stay within a certain niche, which was not Harris’s way: ‘To his publishers, it must have seemed as if he was trying to start a fresh career with each new book.’
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'The authors do not shrink from spelling out the scale of the killings when the Rhodesians made long-distance raids on guerrilla camps in Mozambique and Zambia.'
Xan Smiley on how Rhodesia became Zimbabwe.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/what-the-secret-agent-saw
'Thirkell was a product of her time and her class. For her there are no sacred cows, barring those that win ribbons at the Barchester Agricultural.'
The novelist Angela Thirkell is due a revival, says Patricia T O'Conner (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/good-gad
'Only in Britain, perhaps, could spy chiefs – conventionally viewed as masters of subterfuge – be so highly regarded as ethical guides.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-spy-who-taught-me