Keiron Pim

Ha! Yes, exactly. I’m very conscious of the risk of doing this in the book I’m writing. There are passages where I’m trying to say something true about how we live today but sometimes a thought that presents itself as profound only distils down to banality.

Yes — a certain modern American prose style that is ironic and laconic but entirely lacking in the substance that might make the tone permissible.

Good god but it all just makes my brain melt. Looking forward to the moment in mid-January where the panic reaches unavoidable levels and I confront the issue, then submit my figures to an irritated and overstretched accountant just ahead of deadline. And so the matter is addressed for another year.

I read this having just noted with interest the arrival of one of my accountant’s intermittent “please do your tax return soon” emails, which I certainly intend to open at some point between now and the end of January.

Extraordinary to visit Rodinsky’s Room today while interviewing Dan Cruickshank at 19 Princelet Street. It remains as haunting as when Rachel Lichtenstein and Iain Sinclair wrote about it in the late ‘90s. After two difficult years my East End book is really coming to life now, thank goodness.

Excellent analysis as usual by Yair Rosenberg of the shameless Netanyahu, whose determination to cling to power has wrought disaster in so many ways

The cover of Blue Bash! by Kenny Burrell and Jimmy Smith (Verve, 1963)

#nowplaying Reminds me of seeing Jimmy Smith at the Jazz Café in Camden in the ‘90s. The place was full of after-work wine drinkers talking loudly through his set, until he lifted up his hands, growled: “Shut the fuck up, motherfuckers!” and then continued playing to a suitably hushed audience.

Oh god, I hadn’t even twigged that… yes, even more reason to hate them.

Blimey, a much more substantial reason to dislike them…

Good tip, I’ll remember that — thank you!

Beautifully put, Ben… yes indeed.

Just walked past that one too, it starts to feel a bit personal the second time you see that sign in front of you. “Fuckoffee. FUCKOFFEE!”

Actually make that all the ways the modern world annoys me.

The Fuckoffee cafe on Bethnal Green Road, London. A great place to stop ‘for coffee’ if you’re an edgy hipster.

Every time I walk past this cafe on Bethnal Green Road I think it embodies all the ways modern London annoys me

If you like an author's work, the best thing you can do is buy it. The second best thing you can do is ask your local library to buy it. Or, do both!

From the Guardian, 20.11.2025. According to a translation, a statement from the Russian embassy said: "We have taken note of yet another provocative statement by British defence secretary John Healey. This time, the reason was the activities of the Russian oceanographic research vessel Yantar in international waters. "The endless accusations and suspicions of the British leadership cause only a smile. Our country's actions do not affect the interests of the United Kingdom and are not aimed at undermining its security. We are not interested in British underwater communications. "However, London, with its Russophobic course and whipping up militaristic hysteria, contributes to the further degradation of European security, creating the prerequisites for new dangerous situations."

Nothing at all sinister or Bond villain-esque about this statement from the Russian embassy, not in the slightest.

In case anyone hasn't seen this, the offer includes ALL the Pevsner 'Buildings of England' series. 50% off with the code 'FIFTY' at checkout.

Pevsners: yalebooks.co.uk/pevsner-arch...

Ah, infuriating! I’m sorry to hear that. I have two books that Anthropic used but are ineligible, and one US edition that I gather is eligible.

I’d ask the Society of Authors for guidance. Is that definitely correct, though? My understanding is that UK authors whose books are published by a US publisher will get compensation.

gasping for air here oh my god

What wonderfully happy and uplifting news, Andrew! I’m so pleased for you!

I know, I just saw that! Bloody hell! I’ll keep looking, it should be in the British Library if nothing else…

That’s fantastic and very helpful, thanks Phil! I’ll order the book. Am now trying to determine whether Martin Lux is still alive, would be interesting to interview him… I’ve interviewed a reformed ex-NF guy about his perspective and am looking for an antifascist who was also on the frontline.

I’m currently writing a book about the East End in the 1970s, when a substantial portion of the white population thought things were better 50 years earlier and voted NF to try to turn the clock back. Sigh.

Yes, if left undisturbed I can focus to the point where I feel I have a grasp of the whole life, all its incidents and themes… but if not, chaos ensues!

Okay, that’s interesting… thanks for sharing this.

‘Monotropism Score: 187 / 235
‘Your Average: 3.98

‘This score suggests that you are more Monotropic than about 32% of autistic people and about 92% of allistic people based on data from the initial validation study.’

That’s kind, thank you Marcel. Yes, I felt well cared for by Granta after that book came out, they were excellent. It was a complicated time because my mum died just before publication and I had a lot of different simultaneous emotions, but my editor was very supportive.

In a way my new book is all about the power of footstepping — getting out into the world again to rediscover the East End of my early childhood & recover from grief & burnout. New connections with people, new places & stimuli, exercise: it pays dividends, quite aside from the benefit for our writing

Oh! Well, thank you, and it helps me to hear that… that’s made my day, cheers Tim.

Ha, okay! Yes, maybe you can only realise how important the advice is in retrospect, once you’ve come through the burnout and thought: “What the hell just happened to me?” I hope you feel calmer and brighter soon, Tim.