The Tale of Two CoversI created this photomontage at art college back in the1970s, as an attempt to convey the surreal, discombobulating weirdness of several LSD…Mar 28, 2023Mar 28, 2023
Avatar: The Way of ClichéThe 2009 film’s innovative Fusion Camera System 3D was enchanting in a notably ‘psychedelic’ way, but does the sequel build on this trend…?Jan 1, 2023Jan 1, 2023
Ian McEwan’s Lessons and The Empty ChairLessons is Ian McEwan’s best novel since Atonement, a true late major work, perhaps a late masterpiece. He handles an armada of complex…Dec 8, 2022Dec 8, 2022
The Singing Detective: The Triumph of the Invented SelfIn the 2020s, when streaming has turned the TV serial into a seamless whole, digestible like a novel, it prompts us to pinpoint yet another…Nov 29, 2022Nov 29, 2022
Singing Detective GoggleboxImagine if there were a really intellectual Gogglebox-style discussion of a TV programme…Jul 23, 2019Jul 23, 2019
William S. Burroughs: A LifeWhat follows is an extended review of Barry Miles’s biography: William S. Burroughs: A Life (American title: Call Me Burroughs: A Life)…Oct 3, 20181Oct 3, 20181
Autofictionalisation Personality DisorderWhen I was a child in the 1960s I read extensively – from classic set authors such as Shakespeare and Dickens to the adventure and escapist…Nov 5, 2014Nov 5, 2014
The Cult of the NovelA Literary Context For Contemporary Entheogenic Visionary ExperienceSep 30, 2014Sep 30, 2014
Ten Amazing Facts About William BurroughsBurroughs’ grandfather, William Burroughs I, was another madcap genius who, in the 1880s, invented the first ever automated adding machine…Sep 26, 2014Sep 26, 2014
OCD & Schrödinger’s CatI have a friend whom I shall call Brian who suffers from obsessive-checking syndrome. He will stare at a water tap or an electrical switch…Sep 1, 2014Sep 1, 2014