A Mathematician Plays the Market – John Allen Paulos

Back in the dot-com bubble of 20-odd years ago, WorldCom was one of the many companies that crashed and burned, taking investors’ money with it. John Allen Paulos was one of these investors, obsessively throwing good money after bad, long … Continue reading
Human Croquet – Kate Atkinson

This story has a dizzying start: it takes “begin at the beginning” to the extreme, and starts off at the Big Bang with an apparently omniscient narrator. Soon it settles down into a family saga where the narrative moves between … Continue reading
Angrynomics – Lonergan and Blyth

People are always angry about something. These days they are either angry about vaccination, or angry about people who are angry about vaccination. But until recently, they were angry about things like worsening financial inequality, immigration, and lack of action … Continue reading
Pond – Claire-Louise Bennett

“I only wish you could just spend five minutes beneath my skin and feel what it’s like. Feel the savage swarming magic I feel.” Continue reading
Feeling equal parts nervous and excited…
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter — Mario Vargas Llosa

La Habanera dances in the streetsAnd like every nightPedro Comacho sells peanutsOutside the Tropicana Club Continue reading
Wine labels should include a Best After…
don’t bite the hair of the dog that…
I Can’t Remember the Dream — They Might Be Giants

TMBG are still good at writing about everyday things that nobody else writes about. I have often woken up with a strong feeling — disquiet, or happiness, or yearning — from a dream that I can’t recall. And this song … Continue reading
No One Is Talking About This — Patricia Lockwood

The first half of the book is dizzying — stupid — hilarious — it’s a series of seemingly random impressions, vignettes, observations and ideas of a narrator who is an Internet celebrity and is steeped in Internet culture. Continue reading