This is the first post in what I hope will be an occasional meandering of thoughts and things happening in my world.
I
have started reading Blake Bailey's fantastic biography of Philip Roth again. I
have admired Roth since I read his book I Married A Communist, and Bailey's
publisher has since burnt his book. I wrote about that.[1]
The Roth bio is a superb piece, and it takes you away from your world and submerges
you into Roth's world. Sometime in the future, I will review it for my website
alongside another book on Roth by Ira Nadel, which has a better cover. I wouldn't
say I like the cover of Bailey's book, and it remains to be seen if Nadel's
book is better.
Much
as I try to limit the number of books I buy every month, I am like a heroin
addict who needs a fix. I go cold turkey every so often, and this is a list of
recent buys, books, not heroin. 1. Three books by Hubert Selby JR-Requiem for a
Dream, Last Exit to Brooklyn and The demon. 2. Ham on Rye-Charles Bukowski. 3. The
Midnight Library, this one I succumbed to Sainsbury's charms at £3.99. Portable
Magic-Emma Smith-this one looks a beauty.4. On Nineteen Eighty Four-D J Taylor,
the biography of Orwell's masterpiece. 5. State Capitalism in Russia, Tony
Cliff. A new edition which I will review at some point in the future.
Vagina-Naomi Wolf- Speakes for itself. At my age don't see much of it to
comment on.6 Insolent Proceedings-edited by Peter Lake and Jason Peacey. I am
working on a review of this book.7. Blood and Power- John Foot. With a Fascist elected
as Italian President, this book could not be more topical.[2]8.
Class, Women Race and Class-Angela Davis. 9 The Making of a Black Bolshevik –
Claude McKay.
My
friend Christopher Thompson who is my eyes and ears, alerted me to the
Christopher Hill conference, which I have now advertised on this website. While
I am not surprised that I was not invited to speak, it would have been nice to
have an orthodox Marxist take on Hill.
My
latest article should be published on Sunday called Globalisation, Privatisation and the worldwide
struggle of Postal Workers.
