There won’t be any posts on this Substack between now and 22nd December as I will be on holiday. Apologies for my absence — which I hope to make up for once I return. In the meantime, though, I thought I would take a look back on 2022 and recommend some of the books that I have most enjoyed and learned from over the year.
I really enjoyed reading ‘Young, Gifted and BAME’ by Diversity Wynn-Smithe, the inspiring story of a telegenic, privately educated young black woman’s struggle to overcome systemic prejudice and build a lucrative media career, using nothing but her wits and father’s many media connections. I was particularly shocked by the story of a child asking to touch her hair that one time, and found the chapter on the perils of exclusively dating high status white men highly informative. 4/5 would recommend.
This year I've enjoyed imagining myself as being someone who's reading The Matter With Things by Iain Mcgilchrist. The fact that we're in new year's resolutions season makes this even more pleasant.
The last book I really got excited about was Piranesi but that might have been last year.
By the end of 2022 I'll also have finished The Last Ronin, a graphic novel about an aging Michelangelo getting revenge on behalf of the rest of the Ninja Turtles, who've been killed in an ambush by the Foot clan. It's affecting me more than it should.
What a great pity I didn't get round to reading any of these.
Instead I spent months trudging through the interminably lengthy, needlessly self-absorbed (if unusually and positively less pornographic than usual) new Houllebecq, the principal relief in which came in the final paragraph, wherein the author implied he was not going to write any more. Wish he'd put that in the first sentence.
Can't wait for the 380th Christopher Hitchens collection, and another book explaining all the nuances behind Orwell's “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people things they do not want to hear."
'Published by Verso.' is a masterpiece
I really enjoyed reading ‘Young, Gifted and BAME’ by Diversity Wynn-Smithe, the inspiring story of a telegenic, privately educated young black woman’s struggle to overcome systemic prejudice and build a lucrative media career, using nothing but her wits and father’s many media connections. I was particularly shocked by the story of a child asking to touch her hair that one time, and found the chapter on the perils of exclusively dating high status white men highly informative. 4/5 would recommend.
I would probably read a book of Christopher Hitchens' sexts, albeit shamefacedly.
The Limits of Liberalism, Professor John Servative;
Is this a joke or a typo? Who is the author?
I thought this was serious until I got to the second entry. Yes, I thought Homo was real, and that you were praising it in a self-effacing way.
This year I've enjoyed imagining myself as being someone who's reading The Matter With Things by Iain Mcgilchrist. The fact that we're in new year's resolutions season makes this even more pleasant.
The last book I really got excited about was Piranesi but that might have been last year.
By the end of 2022 I'll also have finished The Last Ronin, a graphic novel about an aging Michelangelo getting revenge on behalf of the rest of the Ninja Turtles, who've been killed in an ambush by the Foot clan. It's affecting me more than it should.
What a great pity I didn't get round to reading any of these.
Instead I spent months trudging through the interminably lengthy, needlessly self-absorbed (if unusually and positively less pornographic than usual) new Houllebecq, the principal relief in which came in the final paragraph, wherein the author implied he was not going to write any more. Wish he'd put that in the first sentence.
Can't wait for the 380th Christopher Hitchens collection, and another book explaining all the nuances behind Orwell's “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people things they do not want to hear."
Happy Christmas.