Too feisty to accept a downward spiral … Mrs Wickham.Too feisty to accept a downward spiral … Mrs Wickham.Audio dramaReviewAudible Originals What happened next to headstrong Lydia Bennet, the most rock’n’roll of the Pride and Prejudice sisters? This intriguing take by Sarah Page reunites Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn
Whatever came of Lydia Bennet after her two older sisters found their happy endings in Jane Austen’s social satire? Here is one imagined outcome for the youngest and arguably most rock’n’roll of the five siblings, whose fate is sealed after she runs off with the rakish cad, George Wickham (played by Johnny Flynn). Read More...
Vinyl wordMusicRecipe for disasterContrary to popular misconception, MacArthur Park is not the worst song ever written. It is, however, one of the most baffling hits in the history of pop music, writes Joe QueenanEven by the standards of the late 60s, when goofy songs were a dime a dozen, MacArthur Park is one of the strangest Top 40 hits ever. More than seven minutes long, sung by a man who couldn't really sing, written by a prolific tunesmith famous for churning out harmless ditties like The Wichita Lineman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, and Up, Up and Away, MacArthur Park is among the most baffling hits in the history of pop music. Read More...
ArtObituaryTom Phillips obituaryPainter, printmaker and collagist known for his extraordinary breadth of involvement in the artsIn 1966, the artist Tom Phillips, who has died aged 85 after a long illness, walked into a junk shop on Peckham Rye in south London and bought a novel called A Human Document by the Victorian writer William Hurrell Mallock.
The choice of book was random. “I’d decided it should be the first one I picked up that cost thruppence, and this one did,” Phillips recalled in an interview to mark his 75th birthday in 2012. Read More...
