Posted in On the road to publication. Something very special has arrived in the post. It looks like a proof copy of an upcoming book, like a hundred other proof copies. It has the name of the book and the author on the front, a line about being an uncorrected proof copy. The design is simple, understated and beautiful.

Birthdays, ageing, and martin amis. But not really a challenge because it will be enjoyable rather than a chore I will start patronising my local bookshop where they have the most fabulous, beautifully displayed collection of contemporary literature, and every time I go there I will buy myself a book, and I will work my way through an alphabet of contemporary authors, starting with A.

One is driven to exclaim, O God, that bread should be so dear and human flesh so cheap. Famine Memorial, Skibbereen, Co. Birthday to that brave Hungarian peasant girl.

It all started with .