fri 05/09/2025

book reviews and features

Mick Herron: London Rules review - hypnotically fascinating, absolutely contemporary

Marina Vaizey

London Rules – explicitly cover your arse – is the fifth in the most remarkable and mesmerising series of ...

Read more...

Roma Agrawal: Built review - solid love

Katherine Waters

"I've been known to stroke concrete," writes self-professed geek Roma Agrawal – and from the very beginning of her memoir-cum-introduction...

Read more...

Joe Dunthorne: The Adulterants review - a richly illuminating comedy of disappointment

Jasper Rees

Joe Dunthorne's debut novel Submarine (2008) burrowed plausibly inside the head of a teenager...

Read more...

Afua Hirsch: Brit(ish) review - essential reading on identity

Marina Vaizey

Usually extracts in newspapers should stimulate the appetite of the reader to get with it; this is a rare moment when the glimpses afforded to Afua Hirsch’s Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and...

Read more...

Julian Barnes: The Only Story review - passion, pain and sorrow in Surrey

Boyd Tonkin

From his debut Metroland, right up to the Man Booker-winning The Sense of an Ending, the prospect of a road not taken has haunted the mild and mediocre narrators of Julian Barnes...

Read more...

Dave Eggers: The Monk of Mokha review - how to become a grand master of coffee

Markie Robson-Scott

A macchiato may never taste the same again. If you’ve ever wondered about the politics and history behind your cup of designer coffee, The Monk of Mokha will answer all your questions,...

Read more...

Bruno Maçães: The Dawn of Eurasia review - middle of nowhere

Katherine Waters

Part travelogue and part broad analysis of the current and future challenges facing the EU, the premise of Bruno Maçães’s new book The Dawn of Eurasia is to “use travel to provide an...

Read more...

David Lodge: Writer’s Luck - A Memoir 1976-1991 review - literary days, in detail

Marina Vaizey

Metaphor, metonymy, simile and synecdoche, anyone? FR Leavis, Roman Jakobson, Jacques Derrida, Frank Kermode? If any of this, and more, turns you on, this lengthy...

Read more...

Nick Coleman: Voices - How a Great Singer Can Change Your Life, review - earworms explored

Liz Thomson

Readers familiar with Nick Coleman’s 2012 memoir The Train in the Night will know before embarking on this book that the author suffered the worst possible fate for a music journalist:...

Read more...

Best of 2017: Books

Boyd Tonkin

With a clownish bully currently installed in the White House, the 2017 Man Booker Prize aptly went to a...

Read more...

Pages

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £49,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

 

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Deaf Republic, Royal Court review - beautiful images, shame...

The Ukraine war is not the only place of horror in the world, but it does present a challenge to theatre makers who want to respond to events that...

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, Underbelly Boulevard Soho revie...

Laura Benanti has been enchanting Broadway audiences for several decades now, and London has this week been let in on the secret that recently...

Waley-Cohen, Manchester Camerata, Pether, Whitworth Art Gall...

Manchester Camerata is enhancing its reputation for pioneering with three performances featuring Nick Martin’s new Violin Concerto, which it has...

The Courageous review - Ophélia Kolb excels as a single moth...

“I never abandoned you,” says Jule (Ophélia Kolb; Call My Agent!) to her 10-year-old daughter Claire (Jasmine Kalisz Saurer), setting a...

Album: David Byrne - Who is the Sky?

From his early days with Talking Heads, David Byrne has ploughed a highly individual furrow, and exploited a persona that combines naivety with...

The Paper, Sky Max review - a spinoff of the US Office worth...

Fans of the US version of The Office may wonder what happened to the assorted oddballs of Dunder Mifflin, proud creators of...

Edinburgh Psych Fest 2025 review - eclectic and experimental

Now in its third year, Edinburgh Psych Fest returned to multiple venues in the old town and the city’s southside for 2025; namely Summerhall,...

The Pitchfork Disney, King's Head Theatre review - blaz...

Ever wondered if there was one moment when in-yer-face theatre started? Well, yes there was; there was one play that kicked off that whole 1990s...

Supersonic Festival 2025, Birmingham review - a deep dive in...

The annual Supersonic Festival is a major jewel in ...