Articles written by Philip Spires - Page 8

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About me - Philip Spires

I was born in 1952 in Wakefield, UK and spent my first ten years in Sharlston, then a mining village, followed by eight in Crofton, a mile nearer Wakefield. I went to London University, obtaining a BSc from Imperial College and a PGCE from King's. After two

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Computers & Technology > Internet Issues How publishing is being redefined by new technology: 5 of 5
Speech to a publisher's Christmas lunch, December 2007 In our grasp I am an author. It's about six months since I first held a copy of my book in my grasp. It was a project I had lived with, on and off, for twenty years. I wrote the book in the 1980s and forgot about it until November 2006. I retrieved it, decided to finish ... More..
Travel > Spain Travel destinations: Benidorm, Spain: 4 of 4
Mention Benidorm and with it, by implication, images of package tourism, hotel buffets, British bars with one euro a pint lager, northern English Working Men's Club turns imitating something neither themselves nor their audience have ever been, lobster-impersonating spit-burnt sunbathers and fried English breakfasts with the... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: 4 of 4
Something of a disappointment - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie It is not often that a novel comes to hand that has been prized, praised and pre-inflated. Half of a Yellow Sun was in that category when I opened it and began to read. And I was captivated immediately. I read the first hundred pages at a pace, ... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: The Gathering, by Anne Enright: 2 of 2
Anne Enright's The Gathering deserves every ounce of praise it has received, and perhaps a bit more. It's a family history of the Hegartys, told by Veronica after the death of her brother, Liam. So, and therefore, it is a wake, a stream of consciousness response to bereavement. There are more than shades of Molly Bloom here,... More..
Arts & Humanities > William Shakespeare Book reviews: Shakespeare, by Bill Bryson: 2 of 2
At the start of Shakespeare Bill Bryson apologises for the fact that there is not much to tell. Every aspect of the bard's physical presence on the planet seems to be shrouded in doubt and mystery. We don't even know what he looked like. We don't know much about where he lived, or what he did with his time, apart from write ... More..