Posts Tagged Books
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March 10, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
For Giving Bukowski: Discovering Charles Bukowski and Letting Him Go
It was a weekday as I recall, but back then they all blurred. And I only went downtown because that was easier than going up the hill, and I went into the bookstore that I’d just discovered, because it was one of the greatest things on earth. (And it still is). Bookstores in general, but […]Archive
February 22, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Finding Delmore: Only In Dreams
Delmore Schwartz was an American poet, short story writer and scholar. His most famous story is In Dreams Begin Responsibilities. It was first published in 1937 and became the title for Schwartz’ first book. That was published a year later, he was 25. The story has been widely anthologised and is a classic piece of […]Archive
February 22, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
“Sounds Good” Turns 1: My Substack Newsletter Has Been Going For One Year
“Sounds Good!” on Substack is one. A year of writing and sending out newsletters. If you’re signed up and following you might remember that as recently as two weeks ago I shared all the Friday playlists in one go – 50 weeks of A Little Something For The Weekend playlists. I called that that anniversary […]Archive
February 3, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 288 – Ben Elton, Wellington, 2021
I didn’t write a review of this show – because I interviewed Ben ahead of the tour. What a treat that was – Ben Elton on the phone. Actually you can have a listen! First I wrote it up for my newsletter and site, then I decided the audio was good enough, so I shared […]Archive
January 6, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
An Update on Summer Reading (2021/2022)
I love Goodreads – I keep an up to date record of everything I’m reading and I’ve done my very best to remember as far back and add all the books I consumed as a kid. Obviously it can never be a complete list but I have trained my memory to work as well as […]Archive
January 2, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Joan Didion
Just ahead of Christmas it was very sad to hear of the passing of Joan Didion. She lived a long and extraordinary life and wrote so beautifully, so dutifully also. She was a chronicler of times, putting art into journalism, putting her life down on the page alongside all she captured. She’s been one of […]Archive
November 2, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Science Fiction Double Feature: Writing and Reading Sci Fi
Advances in science and medicine have meant we can now predict the life expectancy – we can know how long everyone will live. We know if the life will be cut short. Everyone is given a medical passport when they turn 10. It is stamped with an expiration date. The last six months of anyone’s […]Archive
September 12, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Reading In Stolen Moments
To have time to read is, I swear, the ultimate luxury. But at the same time, it’s nourishment for the soul. And I consider it a necessity. To be brain-fried to a level where you cannot sit with one book for FOMO regarding all of the other books you’ve bought or have on loan might […]Archive
September 10, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 8: “The Executioner’s Song” by Norman Mailer
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer I loved Norman Mailer before I read him – because of his book, The Fight, and specifically his appearances in the great documentary, When We Were Kings. Of course I would go on to read The Fight – and it really is a work of genius, one of the […]Archive
September 7, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
My Favourite Author That I’ve Never Read
I couldn’t know I was doing this at the time, but the day before we went into lockdown I armed myself with a bunch of books by George Saunders. I did this because he’s one of my favourite writers that I’ve never read. You read that correctly. I often write about Authors I Admire but […]Archive
September 4, 2021 by Simon Sweetman