Polly Barton: “Impersonating another can offer not only escape but also a sense of authenticity to oneself”
The 2026 Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted author on the perilous mayhem of your twenties and translation as a form of karaoke
By
Books
Latest in
Books
The descent of a delusional woman
The Contessa di Castiglione was a seductress and secret agent who thought herself the “greatest woman of all time”
By
Tolkien’s legends are truer than our own
Influenced by experiences of the First World War, JRR Tolkien created his fairy-tale world to make sense of this one
By
In praise of Winnie-the-Pooh’s idleness
AA Milne’s world is enchantingly empty of the philosophies we have spent the last hundred years reading into it
By
Confessions of a dissident Jew
Even as their humanity is threatened, Palestinians are using literature to preserve it
By
Did Jeffrey Archer ever write a good novel?
The late author’s first-hand knowledge of politics and roguery makes for entertaining reading
By
Emmanuel Carrère betrays his parents
The French novelist and screenwriter’s new book is an unsparing yet seductive portrait of his parents
By
What is to blame for the Middle East?
Beneath the violence and instability that afflict the region lies not religion but a loss of sovereignty
By