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December 11, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 190 David Brent

I watched the David Brent: Life on the Road movie the other day. It was alright – I like Ricky Gervais a lot though the film broke no new ground and just delivered up more of The Office but in a different context. In the picture David Brent (now a travelling salesman) puts together a […]

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August 24, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Broken. English

He had pulled himself up by his boot straps and with just the one wing – never considering the left (or what was left) only sure that he was right (or ‘correct’). This bird had flown all along and only on one wing. No help at all. Those pesky boot straps at least they worked […]

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July 23, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 526

Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen, Spirituals Volume 1 (1974) I had heard of this guy – Ken Colyer – but I hadn’t really heard him…a British jazzer who dedicated his life to recreating/representing the fabulous music of New Orleans. His band (his Jazzmen) would also play skiffle pieces in and around the jazz or turn trad-jazz over […]

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May 8, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Haruki Murakami: The Strange Library

The Strange Library Haruki Murakami Knopf Originally published in Japan in 2008 here we have the first English translation of Murakami’s novella. The Strange Library has been translated from Japanese by Ted Goossen and is supported by wonderful illustrations and design of Chip Kidd, but the real magic is in this creepy, intriguing tale – […]

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August 8, 2013 by Simon Sweetman

Naoki Higashida: The Reason I Jump

The Reason I Jump: One Boy’s Voice From The Silence of Autism Naoki Higashida (translated by LA Yoshida, introduced by David Mitchell) Random House Naoki Higashida wrote this book when he was 13. It’s his meditation on his life – he suffers from autism, though to say he suffers is to play into the stereotypes […]