book reviews and features
'What did you do?' Actors reveal their Shakespearean secrets![]()
Much of the brilliance of Shakespeare lies in the openness, or ambiguity, of his texts. Whereas a novelist will often describe a character, an action or a scene in the most minute detail,... Read more... |
Sunday Book: Jo Nesbo - The Thirst![]()
The jacket designs of Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole thrillers don’t muck about. The novelist’s name with its... Read more... |
Michelangelo's Madonna and Child![]()
Michelangelo's Taddei tondo, which depicts the Madonna and Child with the Infant St John in a rocky landscape, is the only Michelangelo marble in Britain. Currently one of the stars of the... Read more... |
Sunday Book: Jean Hanff Korelitz - The Devil and Webster![]()
Naomi Roth, president of Webster College, Massachusetts, has come a long way since readers first made her acquaintance in Korelitz’s second... Read more... |
Brighton Festival 2017: 12 Free Events![]()
The Brighton Festival, which takes place every May, is renowned for its plethora of free events. The 2017 Festival is curated by Guest Director Kate Tempest, the poet, writer and performer,... Read more... |
Sunday Book: Min Kym - Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung![]()
“What’s it like to be a child prodigy?” is a question asked by violinist Min Kym several times... Read more... |
Sunday Book: Christian Madsbjerg - Sensemaking
Two pernicious practices dominate Christian Madsbjerg's Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm: algorithm addiction and fake philosophy. The author thinks... Read more... |
Sunday Book: Yrsa Sigurdardóttir - The Legacy![]()
Anyone who's followed Yrsa's earlier novels, many of them featuring down-to-earth attorney Thora... Read more... |
Sunday Book: Helen Dunmore - Birdcage Walk
Birdcage Walk in Bristol really exists. It runs under an arched canopy of branches though a long-disused graveyard in Clifton. At this eerie spot, all that remains of the blitzed church of St... Read more... |
Sunday Book: George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo![]()
George Saunders has written a historical novel. Of course, this being Saunders, author of four volumes of... Read more... |
Pages
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
latest in today

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...

The first series of The Gold in 2023 was received rapturously, though apparently it only told one half of the story of the 1983 Brink’s-...

Eva Quartet are four outstanding Bulgarian voices of polyphonic purity and depth, drawn from the legendary choir Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, who...

In those seemingly long-ago times of loneliness and lockdown, artists around the world invited us into their kitchens and living rooms as they...

The Bush Theatre is becoming a garden...

Marianne Moore once famously defined poems as “imaginary gardens with real toads in them”. Operas also fill, or anyway should fill, their...

“Forest and the Shore” by Keith Christmas is remarkable. In his essay for Gather In The Mushrooms, compiler, author and Saint Etienne...

If you’re horse mad or merely an every-four-years Olympic fan, you already know Nick Skelton’s story. Equestrianism can favour mature competitors...

There was a neat conjunction of commemorations to this concert, the most obvious one being the fact that that 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of...