John Self is now on Bluesky

“Do you know, if she put all the cocks she’s had end to end, there’d be enough to fit a handrail round the world. Drink up, dear!” Yes, drink up! I wrote this tribute to the late, great Paul Bailey: thetimes.com/article/2de02f…

A link, which I suspect may make this post invisible. You don’t need to have a B*sk account to read it (though it’s a nice place there, with lots of the bookish folk who used to be here): bsky.app/profile/john-s…

I’m now posting all my book stuff on b*s*k*y, and some on Threads, so head there if you want to see the thing I did for Kazuo Ishiguro’s 70th birthday today.

Well done to everyone who helped Musk's vision for Twitter, and by extension America, succeed.

@sturgios Oh that's good. And did you know Bailey was the inspiration for the character of Ludo in Mrs Palfrey? He talks about it in the intro to the Virago Modern Classics edition.

@john_self I started with At the Jerusalem. Terrific - and amazing for a first novel. Like a darker Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. Thank you

Immensely sad to hear of the death of Paul Bailey at the age of 87. Reading and rereading his novels and memoirs over the last year has been the greatest pleasure imaginable.

'The brevity is not always important, as Levy is not a writer who wastes time clearing her throat. “The purpose of language for Duras is to nail a catastrophe to the page,” begins one brief essay.' Me on The Position of Spoons: theguardian.com/books/2024/nov…

"For one of Britain’s most unusual novelists, it’s business as usual." Me on Gliff by Ali Smith, who I'd describe as a national treasure if I wasn't pretty sure she'd hate the idea: thetimes.com/culture/books/…

@j_amesmarriott Good stats. Also, 25% of translated fiction sales are books from Japanese (and Korean is fast catching up).

@john_self I read Gabriel’s Lament this year and found his writing and characterisation to be so moving, comical and harrowing. A great tribute to him and like you, I believe he had a real gift for a capturing character in dialogue. This will spur me on to read more! Thanks!

“Do you know, if she put all the cocks she’s had end to end, there’d be enough to fit a handrail round the world. Drink up, dear!” Yes, drink up! I wrote this tribute to the late, great Paul Bailey: thetimes.com/article/2de02f…

Bailey’s writing has an exaggerated understanding of how people speak. “She had the last of her teeth out on Tuesday and a new gas cooker put in.” A character returns after a suicide attempt to a note from his cleaner: “I gave you the Kiss of Life which I enjoyed I must say.”

@DiSpeirs Yes. I actually wrote a piece about him recently (not published yet) and hadn't even known he was ill. Shocking news.

@john_self Very sad. One of the first people I ever interviewed and a special and undersung writer

@sturgios Any of the following: - At the Jerusalem - Trespasses - Peter Smart's Confessions - Old Soldiers - Gabriel's Lament - An Immaculate Mistake

@john_self Not read him. Can you recommend a starting point please?

Bailey’s first invention was himself: he was born Peter Bailey, but imagined a twin brother called Paul—““who spoke in a different voice although he had my face and wore my clothes”—and used the name when he joined Equity and there was already a Peter Bailey registered.

I’ve a long thread of highlights from my year of reading Bailey over on Bluesky, fwiw:

@stuck_inabook Yes, one of his best I think.

"The appetite is whetted but not quite satisfied." Me on the thrills, longueurs, page-turning scenes and backstory hell of Tim Winton's "curiously lopsided" new novel of 23rd-century climate activism, Juice: thetimes.com/culture/books/…