Dad had just got back from work, and we were having late-afternoon tea and biscuits in the lounge. So writes Robyn Scott on page 142 of Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood (Penguin, 2008), the book I finished over the weekend. For some reason, this … [Read more...]

After scanning all those slides from the UK last week, it was quite fitting that I just finished The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury, 2010) by Howard Jacobson.Not only did The Finkler Question win the 2010 Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards, but it … [Read more...]

After reading about Russia last week, I traveled across Europe to Germany (in my mind) and picked up Hannelore Hahn's memoir, On the Way to Feed the Swans (Tenth House Enterprises, 1982). And that's what I read this week.Hahn is the founder and president of the International … [Read more...]

It's been almost 20 years since I visited the Soviet Union. And almost 20 years since it collapsed. Since then all sorts of changes have occurred in Russia: a capitalist society, more freedom to travel, stocked shelves, and a growing friendship (maybe) with the United … [Read more...]