Cohn’s feistiness, surly defiance and charm of a rogue lawyer

Roy Cohen is a super-lawyer and political fixed, whose shocking exploits over four decades have shaped the modern political era, most prominently the ascent of Donald Trump. In October 1973, Donald Trump was an ambitious 27-year-old from Queens trying to push his way into the world of Manhattan real estate. He met Roy Cohn, the notorious New York lawyer whose clients included mobsters and celebrities, one evening at the members-only Le Club Restaurant. Trump and his developer father had just been sued by the US government for discriminating against Black people seeking apartments in their properties. Trump asked Cohn “What … Continue reading Cohn’s feistiness, surly defiance and charm of a rogue lawyer

101 Princesses

Imagine what New York-based, British writer Jon Ronson did when he received a series of disquieting texts after his 24-year-old son Joel and his friends had been lured to a mysterious castle in the  rural Connecticut (forests of New England) under false pretences late one evening. Ronson Sr. off on an extraordinary adventure into a world of unmoored men on a desperate search for purpose, whatever the cost. Why did the wealthy scion of a gilded age tycoon Jon’s son to his castle on the pretext of a party, when the reality was something else entirely? Could Jon uncover what was … Continue reading 101 Princesses

Dolly Parton: Her legacy

Dolly Parton, the country singer from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, died aged 80 after a brief battle with cancer,  will be remembered for her songs that told beautiful stories so honestly, such as Coat of Many Colors, Jolene and Will Always Love You. In her seven-decade career, Parton won 10 Grammy awards, sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and wrote in excess of 3, 000 songs. Dolly Parton in1980 was filming her first Hollywood movie, 9 to 5, her idea for the tune title song that would become the movie’s theme song. Her guitar was banned from the set, … Continue reading Dolly Parton: Her legacy

Diana: My Sister….

In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, a memoir by Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer  about his sister Lady Diana Spencer. Diana became the Princess of Wales when she married Charles III, then heir to the British throne. The book published by Michael Joseph an imprint of Penguin Random House, and released simultaneously in the United States and Canada ahead of the 30th death anniversary of Diana in August 2027 and translated into 12 languages. The memoir chronicles their childhood including their upbringing at the Spencer family estate, their parent’s divorce. It examines Diana’s marriage to Charles, her rise to global prominence, her humanitarian … Continue reading Diana: My Sister….

Aimless rituals and shortlived romances

Éric Rohmer, the French New Wave’s most prolific and beloved filmmaker’s first and only novel Elisabeth featuring witty banter, lust, ennui and an undercurrent of violence underlie a seemingly paradisiacal summer on the eve of World War II. Fifteen years before completing his first feature film- and ten before beginning a transformative editorial stint at Cahiers du cinema that would usher the journal, and French cinema, into a new era – the man who would become known worldwide as Éric Rohmer published a single novel. Released byÉditions Galimard alongside the early works of Claude Simon and Marguérite Duras, Élisabeth was … Continue reading Aimless rituals and shortlived romances

Real value of life might lie not in beauty but in ugliness

Acclaimed author of Outline trilogy (an irresistible novel of fame, power, beauty, and truth- Rachel Cusk’s new novel, is about an unnamed but apparently female author undertakes to write a biographical portrait of her friend, a world  famous actress referred to as M. The film star M is one of the most recognizable faces of our time, and her image is everywhere, which has been like that since she was a child. With such fame, her life has the appearance of freedom: people are instantly obliging, spaces are altered to accommodate her, time can be rearranged. M may live in the … Continue reading Real value of life might lie not in beauty but in ugliness

Hope, Anger and Exhaustion – lack of despair causes despair

Two friends meet in an art gallery after decades of silence. The idealism that once bound them together fissured and fractured under the weight of collective and personal griefs. Through their memories of youthful certainty, the antagonism of their conversation and the embers of their enduring kinship, they navigate the wreckage of our world today- the hope, the anger the exhaustion.Jamaican-American poet and playwright Claudia Rankine best known for “Citizen” (2014), her prize-winning work of prose poetry about black experience in the US, which explored microaggressions, police violence and Serena William’s treatment by tennis officials and exposed the depth of … Continue reading Hope, Anger and Exhaustion – lack of despair causes despair

Survival amid ultimate brutality…

Paul Yoon’s Etna is set in a fictional country in the present day, this is story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. Etna after surviving years of a devastating war,  decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and returns home- to the place where he has taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there. This exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a war dog in his own battle-weary, gritty voice, as he traverses across ruined landscapes … Continue reading Survival amid ultimate brutality…

Unconscious desire, and irrational dreams

Martin Lindstrom’s three-year, seven-million-dollar neuromarketing study in Buyology, with cutting edge experiment that peered inside the brains of over 2,000 volunteers from all around the world as they encountered various adverts, logos, commercials, brands and products.  Lindstrom’s mission to find out why consumers were drawn to a particular brand of clothing, a certain make of car, or a particular type of shaving cream, shampoo or chocolate bar.  He believed that if he could uncover the answer, it would not only help sculpt the future of advertising, but also revolutionise the way all of us think and behave as consumers.  It seems marketers … Continue reading Unconscious desire, and irrational dreams

Needle in a loop of silent waves, fine-tuning out of Trauma

Jamaica-born British writer Jacqueline’s new novel “Sky City” set in early 1990s North London, where a young mixed-race woman, Jaycee, lives alone in a sparsely furnished apartment in a block above a shopping centre, with just a DJ on the radio for company. She is isolated, her best friend Ella-G moved to New York, and she never takes time off from her job as a legal secretary because she “craves the order of the workplace”. Music is still crucial, “Walls hummed with overdriven bass lines. Doors bounced in their frames”- but the escape it offers Jaycee is not ecstatic but … Continue reading Needle in a loop of silent waves, fine-tuning out of Trauma