Essays

Reviews of books of essays and opinion pieces.

Book review: ‘The Red Tenda of Bologna’ by John Berger

A short memoir-cum-essay on the city of Bologna and an enigmatic uncle.
Book review: ‘Required Writing’ by Philip Larkin

Required reading.
Book review: ‘See/Saw’ by Geoff Dyer

Looking at photographs.
Book review: ‘The Essays: a selection’ by Michel de Montaigne

Classic personal essays from the man who established the genre.
Book review: ‘The View in Winter’ by Ronald Blythe

Reflections on old age.
Book review: ‘Why We Read’ by Josephine Greywoode (ed.)

Seventy writers on factual writing.
Book review: ‘Cairn’ by Kathleen Jamie

Magnificent short pieces about entering a new phase in one’s life.
Book review: ‘Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World’ by Barry Lopez

A thoughtfully observed posthumous collection of essays.
Book review: ‘The Fran Lebowitz Reader’

Humorous journalism.
Book review: ‘The Golden Mole’ by Katherine Rundell

Interesting facts about remarkable species.
Book review: ‘W. G. Sebald in Context’ by Uwe Schütte (ed.)

A fascinating collection of academic essays about Sebald’s life, work and influences
Book review: ‘Writing Landscape’ by Linda Cracknell

Essays on landscape and writing.