In praise of the Literary Quarterly

Slightly Foxed…

…is a four a year magazine billed as ‘The Real Reader’s Quarterly’. It is beautifully produced on cream paper with lovely illustrations and usually comprises 15 or 16 articles – all championing books that are often out of print, but always an influential book for the essay’s author.

As usual, No 19 was a fascinating mixure:- I’ve added the quartet of spy novels featuring John Craig by James Munro to my wishlists – contemporaries of Fleming’s Bond novels, but nodding more towards Le Carré; searching them out will be a priority.  There are also articles about I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, one of the best young adult novels ever, and Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, I hope my daughter will love that as much as I did.  Richard Ingrams, and Paul Atterbury (off The Antiques Roadshow) also contribute amongst many other fine writers.

Issue No 16 also had more than the usual number of gems – articles on: 1066 & All That; the novels of Georgette Heyer; James Thurber; Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time sequence; the crime novels of Italian author Leonardo Sciascia, and perhaps best of all an essay about Edmund ‘Clerihew’ Bentley – I quote …

The Art of Biography,
Is different to Geography.
Geography is about
Maps,
But Biography is about Chaps.

Excellent stuff indeed!

Back issues, subscriptions and more are available from their lovely website.

Source: Own copies.

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