What you say is not as important as the bookcase behind you.
Joined April 2020
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Martin Amis knew what was what and what, in the credibility world, is a bookcase ladder. As a man at war with cliché he finds a fresh use for one though. Here, he broods in shadow, hinting that if we offend he might slide behind the ladder and scowl at us through the rungs.
Jamie Driscoll above, Nelson Mandela below. Some say it's hubris, some say it's too bold, too strong. Jamie knows he isn't here to offer up bland flavours. Wrap the whole thing in classics, season with flags and serve.
If you're going to slag off your partner while they're sitting right next to you it's always wise to get some books behind you so people know you've thought about it.
Not much has changed then.
Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell face each other like the Federer and Nadal of credibility. Their court is not clipped perfection but a clearing in a forest of understanding. Knowledge spectates on three sides, like curious trees. A chair turns its back. Too much truth perhaps.
Stephen King. The eye moves past the hint of a door towards the waiting Stephen. We are welcomed to his inner world, lined with books. A masterful piece of narrative. You'd think Stephen had an idea about that sort of thing.
Michael tries a new layout to even less effect. The Welsh dictionary indicates a man courageously ranging across tongues to find words of justification. They don't exist in any language but Michael fights on. Michael Fabricant? Michael Fabrican!
Michael Fabricant is going to need a lot more books than those if he wants to successfully defend the indefensible.
I've deleted the latest one as it was rightly pointed out that, stripped of context, it looks like the person in the picture wasn't joking and I was mocking them. Or at least that would be a fair reading of it. Sorry. It wasn't my intention at all and was thoughtless of me.
Alex von Tunzelmann. When the first copies of your new book arrive the best way to unbox them is in front of a bookcase and in the company of a cat. Alex tells us her book is part of the great human quest for understanding but also something lovely to curl up with.
In the gloom of the GB News studio a bookcase lurks. Lights, a globe and some sort of shrub assure us this room offers enlightenment, breadth of understanding and growth. The books tell us all this is founded in knowledge. The war on woke will be fought with the mind. En garde!
Mary Beard and James May. The cover for Ladder to your Heart, the latest album from Beard and May's Folk Explosion, offers the duo in relaxed mood. The towering bookcase, its ladder rising to infinity, is softened by the expanse of carpet. Come, they say. Share in what we know.
