Tag Archives: Spectator

Waugh as Biographer, Up to a Point

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Jeffrey Manley

In this week’s Spectator, the lead book review (“Biography is a thoroughly reprehensible genre”) is by Roger Lewis. In this, he describes a book by James Atlas entitled The Shadow in the Garden: A Biographer’s Tale. Atlas is a literary … Continue reading →

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Alexander Waugh Replies: Whose Howlers?

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

In a previous post, we noted Lewis Jones’ selection in The Spectator of Alexander Waugh’s recent book on the identity of Shakespearian authorship as a book of the year. Jones had some reservations about the book, to which Mr Waugh … Continue reading →

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Novelists Review Powell Biography

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

In yesterday’s papers, two novelists review the new biography of Anthony Powell by Hilary Spurling. Philip Hensher in the Spectator declares that Powell has finally received the biography he deserves. He also discusses the relationship of Powell and Evelyn Waugh: … Continue reading →

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Lost Children and Losing Margarine

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

The Guardian has published an article by Alex Clark about the theme of lost children in literature. The prime example is Ian McEwen’s Thatcher-era novel The Child in Time whch has been adapted for television by BBC/PBS in a 90-minute … Continue reading →

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Scoop Abides

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

The Spectator has reviewed the latest novel by Ned Beauman with a nod to Evelyn Waugh. The title of the novel (Madness is Better than Defeat) itself implies a certain amount of irony and the remote foreign setting will resonate with … Continue reading →

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New Novels with Wavian Undercurrents

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

Two new novels have been credited in reviews with having been influenced by the writings of Evelyn Waugh. In the Spectator, Elizabeth Day’s fourth novel The Party is described in a review by Helen Brown as beginning with the hero’s Arriving at … Continue reading →

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Waugh and Lodwick and Ludovic

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

D J Taylor in this week’s Spectator reviews a book about the life of a post-war British writer named John Lodwick. This is A Forgotten Man by Geoffrey Elliott and depicts a prolific writer of over a score of books whose … Continue reading →

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Decline and Fall of the Bullingdon Club

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

This week’s Spectator has a feature article and podcast by Harry Mount on the parlous straits of Oxford’s Bullingdon Club. He confesses to having been a member himself but seems open minded about its likely demise:  It isn’t quite dead — … Continue reading →

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Shades of Black Mischief

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Jeffrey Manley

A recent “Wild Life” column by Aidan Hartley in the Spectator describes how the new British High Commissioner to Kenya has snubbed the few white farmers who remain in that country: I realised I had fallen from grace when we … Continue reading →

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Waugh and the McCarthyites

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Jeffrey Manley

A blogger posting on a community news weblog for West Berkshire has been inspired by reading The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh to pronounce her assessment of Waugh’s life and work (Penny Post, 29 Sept-9 Oct). After declaring Waugh a … Continue reading →

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