The Revolt of the Pendulum
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My seventh collection of miscellaneous essays, The Revolt of the Pendulum, came out from Picador in May 2009. Its constituent pieces were mainly written to meet commissions from various periodicals in the UK, the US and Australia after I published Cultural Amnesia in 2007, although some of them were written while that book was still in the works. Apart from the out-and-out cultural essays on such figures as Karl Kraus, Kingsley Amis, Camille Paglia, Philip Roth, A.D. Hope and Leni Riefenstahl, there are sheaves of much smaller pieces arising from my activities in show business and the web. One of two of the book's early critics took exception to these reports from my workshop, and managed to convince themselves that self-agrandisement was the book's main emphasis. I don't think they were right, but I have included their reviews in the list of accompanying links, just in case they know better than I do.
29 of the 45 pieces in the book are reproduced here. |
Contents
- Introduction
- The Question of Karl Kraus Australian Literary Review, March 2007
- John Bayley's Daily Bread TLS, May 27 2005
- Kingsley and the Women TLS, February 2 2007
- Canetti, Man of Mystery New York Times, October 2 2005
- Camille Paglia Burns for Poetry New York Times, March 27 2005
- The Guidebook Detectives New Yorker, March 17 2003
- Denis Healey's Classic Memoir Standpoint November 2008
- Zuckerman Uncorked: Philip Roth's Exit Ghost New York Times, October 7 2007
- The Flight from the Destroyer: a review of Artists in Exile by Joseph Horowitz TLS, July 9 2008
- Saying Famous Things The Monthly, March 2007
- Insult to the Language The Monthly, May 2006
- The Perfectly Bad Sentence The Monthly, January 2008
- Happiness Writes White The Monthly, December 2006 — January 2007
- All Stalkers Kill Weekend Australian, April 15—16, 2006
- In Praise of Tommy Cooper previously unpublished
- A Microphone for the Audience previously unpublished
- Best Eaten Cold Best Eaten ColdAustralian Literary Review, June 2007
- The Velvet Shackles of a Reputation The Monthly, August 2007
- Don't Hold Your Breath, Argentina previously unpublished
- White Shorts of Leni RiefenstahlWhite Shorts of Leni Reifenstahl New York Times, March 25 2007
- Made in Britiain, More or Less TLS September 28, 2007
- Movie Criticism in America New York Times, June 4, 2006
- Show Me the Horror The Monthly, December 2005 — January 2006
- The Measure of A.D. Hope TLS, May 19, 2006
- Robert Hughes Remembers New York Review of Books, January 11, 2007
- Modern Australian Painting delivered as a National Trust Lecture at the State Theatre in Sydney on June 27, 2006, and later published in a shortened version by the TLS, September 1, 2006
- A Question for Diamond Jim The Monthly, November 2005
- Exit John Howard The Australian, December 22, 2007
- ABR 300 The Australian Book Review, commonly called the ABR, asked for messages from contributors to celebrate its 300th issue in April 2008. This was mine.
- The Voice of John Anderson The Monthly, July 2005
- Be a Miles, Vagrant Time Out Sydney, September 10-16, 2006
- Niki Lauda Wins Going Slowly The Monthly, April 2006
- Damon Hill's Bravest DayDamon Hill's Bravest Day Sunday Times, March 18, 2007
- Going on in Edinburgh Guardian, August 23, 2008
- Gateway to Infinity The Times, May 16, 2008
- Back on the Road programme note for a Song Show tour of Australia in 2004
- Lure of the Lyrics Guardian, April 1, 2008
- Five Favourites Guardian, April 1, 2008
- Jonathan James-Moore Guardian, December 2, 2005
- Ian Adam Guardian, June 4, 2007
- Richard Drewett, Guardian, February 4, 2008
- Alan Coren Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks: the Essential Alan Coren
- Pat Kavanagh Guardian, October 21, 2008
- Music in the Dark Time Out Sydney, September 10-16, 2008
- Starting with Sludge TLS, December 16, 2005