A statement on my having left Unbound/Boundless.
Posts by John Mitchinson
New episode up now. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend, with guest Nina Stibbe @ninastibbe.bsky.social in conversation with @johnmitchinson.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social and @birchos.bsky.social. Just my luck!
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/240...
Tuesday 27th May. Lined up new episode of Backlisted for my commute. It was bloody brilliant! I thought Secret Diary of A. Mole 13¾ was just funny but intellectuals like @ninastibbe.bsky.social have convinced me it is actually searing critique of Mrs Thatcher etc. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/240...
A new @backlisted.bsky.social in which we discover why guest @ninastibbe.bsky.social refused to review her fave book The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 at the time... with @iammilliam.bsky.social and @birchos.bsky.social (who has never laughed so much)...
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/240...
A short report on an event at Mostly Books in Abingdon on Friday: The lovely Joe Dunthorne in conversation with @johnmitchinson.bsky.social, on his new Jewish family memoir Children of Radium. annabookbel.net/an-evening-w...
This is a literary event. Order it, read it
The bliss of going rogue. A wonderful interview with Patrick McCabe in the @irishtimes.com on the publication of GOLDENGROVE by @unboundsocials.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
McCabe's language hits a rare pitch: it's a mongrel form of modernism, a sui generis mash-up of B movies and forgotten pop songs, poems and folk tunes, the ghosts of Joyce, Larkin, Hopkins and Kavanagh sharing pints with Eric Morecambe, Arthur Mullard and Phil Silvers. His late style - a wonder.
The jaunty tone gives way to a darker mood as abduction, torture, bombings ensue. GOLDENGROVE is McCabe's most political novel. The troubled relationship between Britain and Ireland, - two countries divided by a violent common history – is its deep theme.
The two clubbable Englishmen at its heart turn out to be agents of the British state, sent to infiltrate the IRA. The vibe darkens...
It's a comedy with a heart that's blacker than obsidian. Late sixties Dublin. A theatrical agency. A bar called Minty's. Heavy drinking, smoking and thespian excess of all kinds abound.
I'm very pleased and not a little relieved that this fine book is published today by @unboundsocials.bsky.social . It's GOLDENGROVE the fourteenth novel by the great Patrick McCabe.
uk.bookshop.org/a/2773/97818...
🙏 It's a great interview (and a great book).
"So this is my England and a part of yours too – so different from the English Defence League versions of bigotry or the white Etonian dream of exclusion and superiority"
"Somehow, I found myself elected to the infamous Bullingdon Club – surely the only state school-educated candidate ever to have been so embarrassed. I should have rejected it with contempt but I was curious"
New @backlisted.bsky.social episode! The Image of Her (Les Belles Images) by Simone de Beauvoir, with Lauren Elkin @laurenelkin.bsky.social @johnmitchinson.bsky.social @birchos.bsky.social and me.
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/239...
A reminder that @backlisted.bsky.social has its own Backlisted Bookshop on @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social where you can buy all the books mentioned in today's episode (and all the 238 previous ones). Buying there supports the podcast & indie bookshops
uk.bookshop.org/lists/episod...
New episode up now. Les Belles Images (The Image of Her) by Simone de Beauvoir, with translator Lauren Elkin @laurenelkin.bsky.social in conversation with @iammilliam.bsky.social and @johnmitchinson.bsky.social.
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/239...
On today's @backlisted.bsky.social we discuss a book with the penetrating clarity of May sunshine - Lauren Elkin @laurenelkin.bsky.social joins @iammilliam.bsky.social & me to discuss her new translation of Les Belle Images (The Image of Her) by Simone de Beauvoir. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/239...
Dugin, Surkov, Rykov - the Trio at the Head of the Trojan Horse
A new opening to this epic saga starts at the Olgino Troll farm in St Petersberg circa 2012
open.substack.com/pub/pdjukes/...
Bursting with pride (like may blossom from a hedgerow) at the publication of this beautifully written, important book, WORDS FROM THE HEDGE. Hail to the hedgelaying word-hewer Richard Negus @troopersnooks.bsky.social! Out now from: @unboundsocials.bsky.social
unbound.com/products/wor...
Jane Gardam RIP.
Oh Jane Gardam has died. I number several of her novels amongst my favourites - A Long Way from Verona, Crusoe’s Daughter, The Queen of the Tambourine - and I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with her not so long ago. A great writer who was invested in the literary life to the end. RIP. 🙏
Kaliane's novel, the new Julia Lovell translation of Monkey King and other books mentioned in passing are available from the special @backlisted.bsky.social shop on @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social . Buying there helps support Backlisted and indie bookstores 🙏
uk.bookshop.org/lists/episod...
The story of Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy & Tripitaka is transformed by Julia Lovell's 'witty and charismatic' translation, according to ace @backlisted.bsky.social guest Kaliane Bradley, whose bestselling debut The Ministry of Truth shares these qualities. @sceptrebooks.bsky.social @mariagluc.bsky.social
THE SPIRIT OF BACKLISTED WAS IRREPRESSIBLE.
New episode of @backlisted.bsky.social! Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en, with Pigsy, Sandy, Tripitaka, author Kaliane Bradley, @johnmitchinson.bsky.social @birchos.bsky.social and me.
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/238...
Flyer for event at Golden Hare Books on Thursday 8th May with Helen Murray Taylor in conversation with Anne Hamilton about her memoir love lay down beside me and we wept.
Just over a week to go before my SOLD OUT event at @goldenharebooks.bsky.social with @annehamilton.bsky.social. Can't wait. My author copies of #lovelaydown have got lost in the post so it will be the first time that I see a physical copy of my memoir. Will try not to cry 😁
New episode up now. Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en, with Kaliane Bradley in conversation with @johnmitchinson.bsky.social and @iammilliam.bsky.social. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/238...