I have often wondered what today’s editors would make of past classics if they were submitted now. So here’s my take of a telephone conversation of a commissioning editor talking to authors of classic books who have just submitted their first manuscripts. Not that I have suffered from my editors, of course, I love you […]
What do airline initials really mean?
Let’s start 2012 with a jokey post. Now, of course all these airlines below are wonderful, professional and safe. But air travel is a stressful experience and it has been the butt of jokes, comedy films and satirical TV series, maybe out of our desire to laugh in the face of fear. So, in the […]
Christopher Hitchens and the Elgin Marbles
I am not one of the giants of the literary establishment who regularly consorted with Christopher Hitchens, the great polemicist who died on December 15 after a two-year battle with cancer. I am just one of the lucky ones who met him fleetingly and were dazzled by his personality. Unlike many, I didn’t argue with […]