【Poor Things】
Staff Picks: A Bouquet to Sybille Bedford; Martin Amis in Brooklyn
This Week’s Reading
Illustration by Richard Dodd for Five Dials.
I’ve been racing through The Tale of the 1002nd Night, Joseph Roth’s last published novel. Set in pre-WWI Vienna, when “the world was deeply and frivolously at peace,” it begins with a fairy-tale visit by the Persian Shah and ends in bankruptcy, alcoholism, and despair. But Roth’s basic buoyancy—unless it is that of the translator, Michael Hofmann—makes this sad story a joy to read. —Robyn Creswell
Terry Eagleton’s On Evilis a cogent study of a subject about which much is assumed, and little questioned. I often found myself disagreeing with his views, but I appreciated his careful writing, his stylish analysis, and, most of all, his ability to make theory both relevant and exciting. —Rosalind Parry
This Sunday, I read David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary. The narrator writes nonlinearly about a relationship through definitions for words like aloofand fraught. Here’s Levithan with “catharsis”: “I took it out on the wall. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. YOU FUCKER, I LOVE YOU.” Is the couple still together? We never find out. —Angela Melamud
Christian Lorentzen on Martin Amis’s move to Brooklyn. And rambling with W. G. Sebald in East Anglia. —T. L.
Search
Categories
Latest Posts
Another Sorry Snob
2025-06-26 00:31Facebook reveals how many times governments requested data in 2016
2025-06-25 23:33Is Trump the New Clinton?
2025-06-25 22:18Popular Posts
The Man Who Knew Nothing at All
2025-06-25 23:54Sweetgreen will be one of the first chains to go fully cashless
2025-06-25 23:51Uber's self
2025-06-25 23:23Where to watch your favorite Christmas movies this holiday season
2025-06-25 22:10The Fatberg Cometh
2025-06-25 22:09Featured Posts
The Most Disappointing PC Games of 2017
2025-06-26 00:1110 marketing predictions for 2017
2025-06-25 23:45Inside Amazon's Prime Now warehouse the week before Christmas
2025-06-25 22:30Human Inhuman
2025-06-25 22:13Popular Articles
The Corbyn Cult
2025-06-26 00:13iPhone leak claims three new models, one codenamed 'Ferrari'
2025-06-25 23:26Here's some clever ways to get Snapchat Spectacles for the holidays
2025-06-25 23:03The Swamp Thickens
2025-06-25 22:10Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.
Comments (4964)
Belief Information Network
Why Trump Is an Effective Negotiator
2025-06-25 23:40Global Information Network
London rolls out a badge and card for people with hidden disabilities
2025-06-25 23:39Reality Information Network
Nestlé sets up bonkers machine that plays Christmas tunes and brews coffee
2025-06-25 23:39Habit Information Network
Supermodel Karlie Kloss gives you a 360
2025-06-25 22:27Information Information Network
Laboring Academia
2025-06-25 22:14