Ghosts Lacking in Spirit

Seeing a ghost is a spooky event. A book about ghosts therefore should be a spooky affair; at least it should be captivating. A book by Peter Ackroyd about ghosts is neither; worse, it isn't even a good anthology. Even famous writers may produce a catastrophe, it seems.

Bert Trautmann: From Iron Cross to OBE

Biographies may turn out to be just about anything; they come as pack of lies, as means to drop names, as a way to shift blame to others, or as a collection of pointless anecdotes. Every once in a while, a biography is published that stands out presenting a riveting life's story. The biography written about Bert Trautmann is one of the latter.

Manchester City with
Bert Trautmann

A Holiday to Die For

If you are dying for a holiday, I've got some tips to make your wish come true. Alternatively, it might give you an idea why I am all for staycations. If you believe in statistics, it will sway you in one direction. If on the other hand you believe statistics aren't worth the memory space they take up, it will go the other way. 

Eccentric Aristocrats' Stories

Splendour & Squalor by Marcus Scriven was published by Atlantic Books. The book offers a kaleidoscopic view of members of the British aristocracy that behaved with anything but noblesse. It’s a treasure trove of stories for friends of the weird, the wacky, and the wonderfully eccentric.

Reincarnation or Vivid Imagination?

Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation Of A World War II Fighter Pilot by Bruce and Andrea Leininger with Ken Gross was published by Hay House. The book tells the story the search for the past of the Leininger family’s son. The book is a revelation, but probably not in the sense intended when written. There are lessons to be learned, though.

Arthur Miller and The Witch Hunt

Arthur Miller died in 2005 at the age of 89, and the reactions were not universally of grief. Lights were dimmed on Broadway and one paper cleared its front page, but several dissenters made themselves heard over the empty rituals of public praise. The most famous of America’s playwrights had always called forth divided reactions from critics and public, so reactions after his death were in keeping with that.

Paul Newman and
Arthur Miller