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Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade, Parthenope, Where Dragons Live and Thunderbolts* reviewed by MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE
Mollycoddling the Feckless by Alistair Findlay
Disappointing memoir evades pressing concerns of social work system
CHRIS SEARLE wallows in an evening of high class improvised jazz, and recommends upcoming highlights in May
MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards
MEHDI ACHOUCHE explores the constant fascination of cinema with Marxist alienation from Fritz Lang and Chaplin to Bong Joon Ho
FIONA O’CONNOR steps warily through a novel that skewers many of the exposed flanks of the over-privileged
MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
GREAT title, disappointing book.
Alistair Findlay’s irreverent memoirs of a 40-year career as a social worker in Scotland could have been so much better if he had built his discourse around the real-life personal stories of the many clients he encountered from the early 1970s onwards.
Instead, he has opted for an essentially dry approach, based around descriptions of departmental reorganisations and office politics, interspersed with small talk about works outings and football matches.
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PETER MASON is moved by a striking production of Noel Streatfeild’s enduringly popular children’s book
PETER MASON reckons the NYT’s production of Shakespeare’s comedy is the pick of the Christmas shows on offer in London
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