Showing 1 - 5 of 5
The lonely songbird in a gilded cage
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/02/2025
» A few words on singer/actress Marianne Faithfull who died last week at the age of 78. I have followed her career with some interest because she lived in my home town of Reading in the early 1960s, attending St Joseph's Convent school.
When people browsed in bookshops
Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/12/2023
» Earlier this week I watched the 1987 film 84 Charing Cross Road. The reason for my interest was that the road has always been my favourite London thoroughfare. The film, which I won't go into, is about a long-distance literary friendship between characters played by Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.
Good chance of being caught on the hop
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/01/2023
» To mark this weekend's Chinese New Year celebrations for Year of the Rabbit it seems appropriate to dedicate today's column to our cuddly cottontail friends, otherwise known as bunnies. Let's hope not too many of them end up in a pie or stew. As a precaution, just be careful when you order "today's special".
Don't judge these books by their titles
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/11/2018
» It is generally agreed that a snappy title helps the sales of a book, although some can be a real turnoff. With this in mind, for 40 years the English literary magazine Bookseller, has been holding an annual award for the oddest book title. Also known as the Diagram Prize, last year's winner was the enthralling The Commuter Pig Keeper which just edged out the thought-provoking Nipples on My Knee.
The message is definitely in the song
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/05/2018
» While having a chat with friends about those misheard song lyrics (mondegreens) that appeared recently in this column, the conversation got around to another intriguing realm of the musical world -- country & western songs. It almost has a language of its own.