Ian Sansom
Rabbit Revealed
According to Adam Begley, John Updike was the ‘poet laureate of American middleness’. Updike was also the laureate of American massiveness – sprawling across genres, enormously prolific, and insatiable in his demand to be loved and lodged, as Begley puts it, ‘in the heart of the American people not just today but tomorrow’. Updike’s strenuous efforts have now been rewarded with the traditional prize: a major scholarly biography.
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'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
In this month's Bookends, @AdamCSDouglas looks at the curious life of Henry Labouchere: a friend of Bram Stoker, 'loose cannon', and architect of the law that outlawed homosexual activity in Britain.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/a-gross-indecency