Category: Literature
“I think that I shall never knowWhy I am thus, and I am so.”—A Fairly Sad Tale, Dorothy Parker ⧫ The author of The Lady and the Little Fox Fur, Violette Leduc, was famously in love with and rejected by Simone de Beauvoir—author of the seminal feminist text, The Second Sex. Leduc wrote of this […]
Violette Leduc’s ‘The Lady and the Little Fox Fur & the Art of Distance
I don’t suppose there’s any need to explain why this year’s anniversary of the start of Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine felt especially painful and bitter for me, a proud US citizen born in Ukraine. As my readers know, when my spirits sink, I tend to look to my fellow Angeleno émigrés for inspiration. […]
“Here You’ll Find a Few Ukrainians”: Anatol Yourinyak and LA’s Ukrainian Culture Center
Café Landtmann is a traditional Viennese coffeehouse steeped in history, having served patrons for over 150 years. Established in 1873 by Franz Landtmann, it has become an iconic institution in Vienna, attracting locals, tourists, and even notable figures such as Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, and Marlene Dietrich. Located next to the grand Burgtheater, it […]
A Classic Viennese Breakfast at Café Landtmann
I can’t quite recall where I first heard about Donald Henderson’s excellent novel, Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper – a wickedly satirical portrayal of a murderer operating under the cloak of the London Blitz. It may have been Backlisted, always an excellent source of lesser-known gems, or possibly during a discussion about boarding-house novels, a […]
Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper by Donald Henderson
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