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Frédéric Beigbeder: A life in fiction

“I had to imagine my forgotten past, and my brother, my cousins make fun of me, it’s very painful. That’s the problem with fiction: they think I’m a big liar.”

 

Simon_Rich_thumbnail Simon Rich: The Adventure of the Spotted Tie

“Despite Holmes’s powers of observation, he seemed unable to notice Alyssa’s shortcomings. He frequently referred to her as his ‘angel’, a term uncharacteristically figurative for a man of his scientific bent.”

 

Vonnegut_thumbnailKurt Vonnegut: But not me

“On about February 14th the Americans came over, followed by the R.A.F. Their combined labors killed 250,000 people in twenty-four hours and destroyed all of Dresden – possibly the world’s most beautiful city.”

 

Life_After_Life_thumbnailBookanista recommends: Summer round-up

“From the formidable shortlist for this year’s Women’s Prize, Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life is a profound and inventive examination of second chances and putting things right.”

 

lottie_thumbnailLottie Moggach: A dip in the Ladies’ Pond

“When it’s warm like today, I reward myself for a good paragraph by jumping into the Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath. Otherwise, I punctuate my day by drinking expensive coffee and window shopping.”

 

Plus a new short story, Doors by J. Robert Lennon, author of psychological thriller Familiar, exclusive extracts from Allisa Nutting’s “dirty, funny, shocking, provocative” Tampa, and from Sérgio Rodrigues’ twin narrative about football and family secrets, The Feint, Mika Provata-Carlone on Penelope Delta’s reissued Greek children’s classic A Tale Without a Name, Tanis Rideout on recreating George Mallory’s ill-fated attempt to conquer Everest, and we return to Gallic themes with fiction from New Voice Nadia Hughes remembering Paris and Rouen, and William Wordsworth‘s take on the French Revolution.