About three years ago, I heard mention of a novel with an intriguing title that had an introduction by one of my favourite writers, John McGahern. I got it and read a couple of pages. It looked well written but, rather… ‘a masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man’ says The New Yorker on the cover. Sounds dull, doesn’t it? And the opening pages, about a Missouri farm boy heading to agricultural college, aren’t gripping. Then I read this article about how Stoner, while little known in the US, was steadily gathering readers all over Europe (a selection of the translation covers above) and thought, I’d better give this another go. I finished it in 48 hours this bank holiday weekend. The novel…

An extended version of my review as it appears in today’s Nottingham Post.   Thanks to TV and film roles, Eddie Izzard has become a household name. A documentary series about his ill-fated Mandela marathons begins tonight. He’s so popular that a second date was added at the Capital FM Arena. Confusingly, it’s the day before the first Force Majeure show. Last time he performed in the city it was for 220 people at Lakeside. I tried to get tickets but missed out by a minute. Did get to see him at his next appearance, at this arena, when he was warming up for the then new Labour leader, Ed Miliband. Odd occasion. The other well known warm-up/microphone handerouter was Joan Bakewell. Eddie says he…

This Easter, we managed to get away for a week in Lanzarote, a beautiful island in danger of being over-run by hotels offering inclusive food and drink deals. We stayed in a quiet bungalow at the far end of Playa Blanca, and ate well at local restaurants, swam a lot, visited the sights, and did loads of reading. Here are the books I finished while I was there. The Successor – Ismail Kadare This had shades of Lanzarote’s late Nobel winning author Jose Saramago (whose museum home we didn’t get to visit, as it’s not on the tourist trips and we didn’t want to rent a car), with a tough, allegorical flavour to a story that, nevertheless, gets at the reality of politics in contemporary…

Slightly extended version of my review from The Nottingham Post.   This Grammy nominated singer-songwriter from Oklahoma is just 24 and comes with a head of critical steam plus a debut TV appearance on BBC2’s Later this Friday. Fullbright has a rich voice, a rootsy sound and a wide range of material that recalls songwriters as far apart as Ryan Adams and Randy Newman.   In the intimate Glee Studio, he comes on solo with two new, promising songs, then is joined by veteran Oklahoma guitarist Terry Ware. The older man contributes tasty licks and whatever else is needed for the rest of the evening, creating a surprisingly full sound for a duo.   About half of Fullbright’s debut album, From The Ground Up, is…

This review first appeared in Thursday’s Nottingham Post   “WE’RE really smoking tonight,” says Animals singer and bassist Pete Barton. And it’s true. An amp has caught fire, halfway through a set of classics from the sixties. Barton replaces Eric Burdon, who sued to get the name from original drummer John Steel. And lost. Keyboard player Mickey Gallagher, best known as one of the Blockheads, replaced Alan Price at short notice in 1965 and returned in 2003. Danny Handley on guitar and vocals completes the new team. It’s My Life, Dimples and others roar by, with covers like I Believe To My Soul. They sound like a terrific tribute band with a fantastic keyboard player, but this is only the warm-up. After a break, they…