Piers Paul Read
Possibly the Last Word on a Very Important Subject
It is common enough to review a book by a friend, but rare when that friend is not just the author of the book but also the publisher, and not just the publisher of the book but of the magazine in which the review appears. Such is the chutzpah of Naim Attallah – the ebullient and energetic Palestinian who began his life in England as a steeple-jack and has since scaled the spires of literary London.
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'One young monk ... set himself on fire in 2009, declaring on his deathbed: "I don’t regret what I did. I did it for the sake of all Tibetans and sentient beings."'
Rana Mitter traces the modern history of Tibet.
@BarbaraDemick
https://literaryreview.co.uk/one-country-one-system
'This book takes in a lot of territory, all solidly researched and footnoted. But dry? Fuhgeddaboutit.'
Patricia T O'Conner on E J White's 'You Talkin' To Me? The Unruly History of New York English'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/tawk-of-the-town
'The identification of a mighty force sparkling intermittently seems to me to constitute the finest and most consistent poetic achievement of Goudie’s book.'
Candia McWilliam on @lachlangoudie's 'The Story of Scottish Art'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/all-that-glisters