“... manifesto says, is to construct ‘a craft that will convey us into death in such a way that we may, if not live, then at least persist’, with one example of such a craft being ‘the rehabilitation of sacrifice as an accepted social ritual’. From this perspective, it’s not important whether or not McCarthy’s novel is reviewed well or badly, allowed ...”

“... you can’t really read an Ellis book without thinking about his whole career. If you don’t, you may end up dumping him into one of the convenient pigeonholes (brat, druggie, pervert, creep, minimalist) that have already been created for him. Ellis has the gift, or perhaps the curse, or perhaps the tactic, of being able to hide in plain sight: his novels ...”

“... In 1916, according to Geoffrey Jones, a business historian, only ‘one fifth of Americans may have used any toiletry or cosmetics.’ This would mean that four fifths of Americans used neither toothpaste nor shampoo, never mind moisturiser or deodorant, lipstick or hair gel. In 1914, the total value of the American beauty industry, ‘excluding toilet ...”

“... the upheavals of recent US history, which he saw through the lenses of decline and nostalgia. He may have been a Democrat, but he had a conservative temperament and reactionary impulses; he supported the Vietnam War and would (like Richard Maple) mock civil rights leaders’ oratory. In the company of liberals like Mary, he considered this part of his ...”

“... Field of Cloth of Gold – on Henry’s arrival at Dover Castle in the small hours of Saturday, 26 May, the pair met and hugged ‘right lovingly’ on the stairs outside Charles’s apartments – but arranged to meet again immediately after it. Such amity was, of course, essential to any pan-European peace: as Wolsey stressed, peace in Christendom depended ...”

“... together in a French chicken coop. Paragraph 12 read: ‘Emotion clouds judgment; anxiety too. It may never happen.’ Ludwig is directed to a shabby hotel, already crowded with European refugees in many stages of crazy optimism, suicidal gloom or alcoholic resignation. Remarque readers will have been here before. The Hotel Rausch in New York is the Hotel ...”

“... in the vanguard of those seeking to throw light on the regime’s archive of treacheries. It may sound implausible that Andreas, a spoiled, cynical intellectual with no previous history of violence, would so lightly offer to kill his girlfriend’s stepdad and actually follow through. But Franzen handles it with insight and dramatic nous; the notion of a ...”

“... is not a young man … There runs through all he says and does that vein of irony by which we may so often mark one of life’s self-acknowledged failures … a man of parts without character and with more wit than sense.’ The actor offers no comment, but by now he doesn’t need to. David Gates, the creator of these connoisseurs of disappointment and ...”

“... that Schacht was in control of German economic policy towards Spain. The economics minister may have been able to cling on to his job for a year or so after the Nazi intervention there began, but his position was being undermined by Göring even before the Four-Year Plan came into operation. As Leitz observed, in what is still the most thorough ...”

“... and al-Tabari: Muhammad made a pronouncement recognising the powers of three Meccan goddesses (and may have even sacrificed a lamb to one of them), an error he soon corrected after being chastised by the angel Gabriel. To determine what was reliable, Ali writes, Muir decided that if a story appeared in the classical sources and was unflattering, it must be ...”

“... the very worst things you can say to people. And the meaning of the proverb, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’ Tebogo has kicked the jotter out of reach, so I kneel myself on the red-brown cement and extract it from the tangle of legs, chair and human. I see Tebogo’s shins before I rise. Pale circular scars, the size ...”

“... pilot. Westwood was handsome: ‘You have to be interesting-looking to capture my attention!’ He may have captured it, but he didn’t hold it. She left him months after Ben was born and was now back with her mum and dad, living in the flat above the post office, making jewellery that she sold on the Portobello Road. Her brother, Gordon, started bringing one ...”

“... Idaho, told the radio programme This American Life how easy it was to be swayed by donors: ‘You may end up voting the wrong way because you haven’t fully understood both sides of the story, even if you do have integrity.’ One issue he faced was how to regulate payday lenders: ‘They’re a big political contributor in Washington. And so that’s an ...”

“... saying: ‘How the mighty have fallen! Where’s your greatness now little man!’ The quotes may differ but the scene and the outcome were the same. O’Neill was taken to hospital and signed a petition – later withdrawn – to have Monterey committed. In order to win her back in the last days of his life, O’Neill had to amend his often changed will ...”

“... all its hierarchical features subordinated to the rule of the public’s footsteps’. The street may be too wide for pedestrian comfort, but at least it is a street, and a ‘surprisingly convincing’ one. I’m confused by Hatherley’s perspective on streets. I would have thought that as a modernist and an admirer of council tower blocks in Britain, he ...”