Jim Holt
Jim Holt sets out to Review Quentin Crisp
Although the stately homes of England remain by and large where they were erected, many of the stately homos of England have transplanted themselves to the United States, to our (I speak as an American) good fortune. One of these is Quentin Crisp. Crisp has been living in the East Village in New York since the mid Seventies and is well-loved here. A few years back I saw him on David Letterman’s late night TV show (a very big deal) talking about how friendly New Yorkers were to him. For instance, he said, when he took a taxi the other day and inquired about the fare upon arriving at his destination, the driver told him there was no charge. (‘Gee,’ responded Letterman, ‘that never happens to me. I guess I should read those instructions posted on the back of the cabbie’s seat.’)
Like Tom Wolfe and the late Andy Warhol, there is no mistaking Crisp when you see him in public (except possibly for a woman if you are hopelessly philistine); as far as I know, he is the only octogenarian in the greater metropolitan area who invariably sports a blue coif,
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
'Within hours, the news spread. A grimy gang of desperadoes had been captured just in time to stop them setting out on an assassination plot of shocking audacity.'
@katheder on the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/butchers-knives-treason-and-plot
'It is the ... sketches of the local and the overlooked that lend this book its density and drive, and emphasise Britain’s mostly low-key riches – if only you can be bothered to buy an anorak and seek.'
Jonathan Meades on the beauty of brutalism.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/castles-of-concrete
'Cruickshank’s history reveals an extraordinary eclecticism of architectural styles and buildings, from Dutch Revivalism to Arts and Crafts experimentation, from Georgian terraces to Victorian mansion blocks.'
William Boyd on the architecture of Chelsea.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/where-george-eliot-meets-mick-jagger