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Writing tagged Notes

  1. ‘Ghosts of My Life’ by Mark Fisher

    Several passages from the book noted in the hope they stick in my head longer.

  2. Divided into zones

    An interesting passage from a review of a book about the writer Uwe Johnson.

  3. ‘Reality Hunger’ by David Shields

    I finished reading this a week ago and it’s still sitting in my head, wrapping itself around several doubts and questions that were already in residence.

  4. ‘The Actor’s Guide to Creating a Character’ by William Esper and Damon DiMarco

    My notes after reading the book.

  5. ‘Light Years’ by James Salter

    From 1975, I really enjoyed this book.

  6. Mysterious algorithms

    From ‘Money Stuff’, on how algorithms in the markets go a bit wonky, not because they’re mysterious, but because humans don’t give them enough information.

  7. Stay vs Remain

    On the etymological differences between the wordings of the Brexit options.

  8. ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’

    I enjoyed Carson McCullers’ novel.

  9. Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD by Martin Aston

    My thoughts on the book about 4AD records, plus a 556 track playlist.

  10. How Soon is Now by Richard King

    A few notes about, and quotes from, the book, plus a long Spotify playlist of tracks mentioned.

  11. ‘The Actor’s Art and Craft’ by William Esper and Damon DiMarco

    My notes on the book that recounts a year’s worth of Esper teaching his variation of the Meisner acting technique.

  12. Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder

    My notes on “The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need”.

  13. The foco

    A parallel between the success of the Cuban Revolution and changing large organisations.

  14. Everything had to be new

    On the fads of 19th century Parisian bohemia.

  15. First sentence

    A great first sentence from an LRB article by Adam Smyth.

  16. The most profound interest

    No one believed the Wright Brothers could fly.

  17. The natural order of things

    Bits from an LRB review of a book about how socialism has disappeared from America.

  18. ‘Measuring America’ by Andro Linklater

    My notes on this fascinating book about the history of mapping the continent.

  19. The Canadian iron ring tradition

    Canadian engineers wear rings on their little fingers as a reminder of their responsibilities to the public.

  20. They hate competition

    On companies hating competition.

  21. Slender gains

    A bit from a review of a book by Katherine Boo, about how the poor complain about their neighbours more than they do about the rich.

  22. Midcult

    Some bits about “midcult”, Dwight Macdonald’s term for middlebrow culture.

  23. Failure quotes

    Two quotes about failure, from Samuel Beckett and Stephen Spender.

  24. Doors with no handles

    “…the Volkspolizei would come through the doors, drag the Gruftis and Autonomen into the East, rough them up and throw them back out.”

  25. Two million radio sets capable of broadcasting

    Reviewing Tim Wu’s ‘The Master Switch’, Steve Coll describes how once anyone could broadcast their own radio station.