Beneath Napoleon’s Hat
Extract from the Series Preface The Café Procope can claim to be one of the oldest cafés in Paris. In 1686 it began serving coffee in porcelain cups to men of fashion. Three years later, in 1689, the Comédie Française appeared opposite, hence the Procope’s current address, rue de l’Ancienne Comédie. The café became ‘theatrical’ […]
Eagles without a Cliff
After a quiet dinner in Stone Mount, Dr John Basford, our guest, noticed a missing volume from my collection of B S Johnson novels. He gave me not only a copy of the missing work but an enthusiastic response to all the stories of Beneath Napoleon’s Hat, a collection of pieces set in the famous […]
Intriguing beginnings of the next book ‘Cling’
Italo Calvino’s novel ‘If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ is fascinating. Each chapter restarts the same lost book with a totally different cast of characters. I thought I’d offer something similar for these autumn nights, a few paragraphs from the books I hope to develop for publication in the future. The first is called: […]
Thoughts behind Like A Fat Gold Watch
I have come to believe that mine was the first generation that could actually choose when to have a family. The accident of conception was lessened by the advent of clever birth control and the growing independence of women meant that their careers and choices had to be accommodated by the once all-powerful men. I […]