Clive James

Reliable Essays: The Best Of Clive James (2002)

OK, s I don't really like Clive James very much. The book was a gift from a much beloved baby boomer friend, and all I could really think as I read it was that James erudite, academically arrogant style was perhaps a generationally based taste. The world that James inhabits so easily, of the 'can...

The Meaning of Recognition (2006)

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts (2007)

The estimable James, novelist, poet, and critic, has an opinion on everything having to do with culture and the arts, and with Cultural Amnesia , an alphabetized collection of essays on the artists, poets, musicians, writers and film makers he feels we should be conversant in, lest we forget, get...

Even As We Speak (2004)

I could happily read James just writing out the phone directory at this point. Even the numbers themselves would be laconically delivered and have a killer joke to finish. James remains a rare combination of intellect, wit and readability. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with him he’s almost ...