Thinking with the blood transfusion: Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens has, at various times, laid into `Mother Teresa’(making him “the only living person to have represented the Devil pro bono”); Henry Kissinger (whose possible prosecution for his complicity in the Chilean bloodbath Hitchens announced: “So, comrades and friends, brothers and sisters, we shall be able to say that tomorrow-September 11th 2001-will long be [...]

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Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear – by Dan Gardner

In the 21st Century, the gap between perceived risk and actual risk is vast.  The world has never been a safer place and yet apparently the human race has never been so fearful. After the terrorist attacks of September 2001 people shunned air travel in their millions, regardless of the fact that the odds of [...]

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Coming soon to a screen near you …

“Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to [...]

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All The Things We Didn’t Say by Sara Shepard: a dark and debilitating read

Tragedy came one summer’s night: a teenage party, emotions running high, followed by a horrific car crash. A girl is left dead and a boy is forced to leave his home town, bearing a secret that he will carry forever. Years later, Summer grows up believing that our genes define who we are. Her teenage [...]

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The Tapestry of Love, by Rosy Thornton

Rosy Thornton’s new novel, The Tapestry of Love, starts with an arresting scene: its heroine, Catherine, is marooned in her car in the midst of a sea of sheep. They are going one way; she was going the other, until they engulfed her. It is the Autumn transhumance, the age old movement of flocks from [...]

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Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas

Before I begin this review I have some apologies to make. I would like to apologise to my family, my friends and my colleagues – all of whom I totally shunned while reading this book. Which probably tells you all you need to know, but I’ll elaborate anyway. It’s a pretty tough book to describe, [...]

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The Pattern in the Carpet by Margaret Drabble

Reading this book is like having a long luncheon with a friend, you learn a lot and get to know them so much better. Part memoir, part history, the conversational style and meandering pace lends itself to leisurely reading. The author began the book as a history of jigsaw puzzles, but it soon became more [...]

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Coming up on Vulpes Libris – week beginning 26th July 2010

Always on the lookout for the new, the good and the very, very readable, sometimes all at once, this week the Foxes (most of whom are as cute as this) bring you a variety of strong voices writing fiction, fact and opinion. On Monday Jackie unravels The Pattern in the Carpet, a memoir and history [...]

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Flash Man: Interview with Nik Perring, Author of “Not So Perfect”

Nik Perring’s collection of 22 (short) short stories, Not so Perfect, was one of the most enjoyable books I have read this year. With “flash fiction” taking over the net and with numerous wordslam and livelit events all over the country, I felt it was time I found out more about the ultra short form. [...]

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Churchill, A Study in Greatness by Geoffrey Best: celebrating the importance of history

First off, I have to say that I approached this review with some trepidation as I am as far removed from being an historical expert as the east is from the west. However, I grew up in a house filled with the writings of Churchill and books about Churchill, so you could say my father [...]

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