The publishing mega-merger that wasn’t
Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster have failed to merge
Books and Arts
Tuesday
The spy who loved me
Suleika Dawson’s account of her affair with novelist John le Carré has caused controversy. But she is unrepentant
Stephen Amidon’s day of the locust
A new novel explores the lengths communities will go to protect their own
Bob Dylan’s tower of song
The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan reviewed
Was the Queen Mother ever really funny?
Do Let’s Have Another Drink!: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by Gareth Russell reviewed
An ingloriously dumb adaptation
Almost Famous fails to make the jump from screen to stage
Edward Hopper’s America
The popular perception of the loneliness in the painter’s work could not be more wrong
Cleopatra still dazzles sixty years later
The film is, above all, an Elizabeth Taylor-worshipping vehicle
Monday
The Spectator’s 2022 Books of the Year
Our writers weigh in
The return of Cormac McCarthy
Arguably America’s greatest living novelist is back with two novels
Think autofiction is easy? Think again
There are relatively few rules beyond (perhaps) a disregard for plot
Joyce Carol Oates, a woman for all seasons
She remains one of American literature’s great survivors — and provocateurs
Murillo the masterful
The Spaniard’s painterly skill outshines his congenital weakness for schmaltz
The shock value of Lena Dunham
She was the low-culture Mary Tyler Moore
The return of Lindsay Lohan
Falling for Christmas looks bound to be tragicomic and artless pulp, but so what?
David Bowie is bigger than ever
His stature as rock music’s greatest iconoclast shows no sign of being threatened
Sunday
The prodigal daughter
Mussolini’s Daughter: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe by Caroline Moorehead reviewed
Nick Cave’s musings on life, death and creativity
Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan reviewed
The bookish life of John Carey
Sunday Best: 80 Great Books from a Lifetime of Reviews by John Carey reviewed
Living one’s best life
It helps to have a soft spot for life-wisdom books
