Grub Smith
Shaggy Dog Story
From Marley & Me to Old Yeller, most books about owning a dog are pretty mawkish affairs, a cynical tug at your heartstrings as you follow the journey from cute puppy to faithful friend to tearful final farewell at the canine equivalent of Dignitas. But this memoir, about a coked-up journalist who only finds true happiness when she buys a lurcher, is a different beast entirely. It’s grown-up, intelligent and marbled throughout with a wit that is, appropriately, dry as a bone.
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'The river’s desecration mirrors Colombia’s long history of violence: "for years we treated it like a sewer," says Ahmed, a survivor of a particularly brutal paramilitary massacre, "just like we treated each other".'
Patrick Wilcken on the Magdalena.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/troubled-waters-3
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https://literaryreview.co.uk/a-tale-of-two-parties
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https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-pragmatists-progress