Author Archives: John Sloan

Handler, Daniel. And then? And then? What else? Liveright, New York, 1924. Memoir; 5/25. I was hard-pressed to categorize this. It’s a memoir but also a kind of rambling apologia for Handler’s life and writing. It wasn’t available on Kindle … Continue reading →

Anderson-Wheeler Claire. The Gatsby Gambit. Penguin Random House New York 2025. F; 4/25. This new murder mystery is based on Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, similarly to but more directly than the way A Thousand Acres by Smiley and The Hours … Continue reading →

Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. Scribner’s New York 1926. F; 4/25. This is the first time I’ve read this but I remember the bulls in Pamplona in the 1957 movie with Tyrone Power and Ava Gardner, which I saw … Continue reading →

April 2025 Me just back from a month in France Robin and I spent two days and nights here debriefing. This food review will include the accommodation. The harbour house built in around 1920 was a family home, taken over … Continue reading →

de Kretser, Michelle. Theory and Practice. Sort Of Books, London, 2025. F; 3/25. Taken from the periodical Book Marks which is usually in my opinion vitiated toward activist politics I liked this novel a lot anyway. Book Marks choosing it … Continue reading →

March 2025 I’m in France for a month working on my French. It hasn’t quite been your dream French holiday with postcard villages, fresh bakery every morning, small but fabulous restaurants, but an interesting social exercise emphasizing dealing with situations … Continue reading →

Joyce, James. Ulysses. Shakespeare and Company, Paris, 1922. F; 1/25. Tackling this book with its celebrated complexity I had no idea what I was getting into. The history of its publication alone is almost as tangled as some of its … Continue reading →

January 2025 We’ve been looking forward to eating here for several months since Feenie took over the slightly renamed legend. Mourners for many years the loss of Feenie’s Lumiere, we had high expectations for this emergence of the chef from … Continue reading →

December 2024 This fancy Covent Garden spot was actually named by Michelin the “most romantic” restaurant in the city. Our expectations were high but in respect of ambience and physical plant they were exceeded. It’s one of the prettiest if … Continue reading →