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Best Book of 1981: Lanark
Lorna Gibb
Lorna Gibb on why Alasdair Gray's Lanark is the best book of 1981.
Best Book of 1984: Amalgamemnon
Joanna Walsh
Joanna Walsh on why Christine Brooke-Rose's Amalgamemnon is the best book of 1984.
Best Book of 2003: The Curious Life of Robert Hooke
Daisy Hildyard
Daisy Hildyard on why Lisa Jardine's The Curious Life of Robert Hooke is the best book of 2003.
Best Book of 2006: The Re-Emergence of Global Finance
Oliver Bullough
Oliver Bullough on why Gary Burn's The Re-Emergence of Global Finance is the best book of 2006.
Best Book of 2008: The Alphabet
Rae Armantrout
Rae Armantrout on why Ron Silliman's The Alphabet is the best book of 2008.
Best Book of 2015: After The Dance
Dimitry Elias Léger
Dimitry Elias Léger on why Jan Gaye's After the Dance is the best book of 2015.
Best Book of 2017: Shadowbahn
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem on why Steve Erickson's Shadowbahn is the best book of a year to come.
Best Story of 1965: ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’
Aimee Bender
Aimee Bender on why Flannery O’Connor's ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’ is the best story of 1965.
Breach Candy
Samanth Subramanian
‘There are clubs like the Breach Candy Club all over the Indian subcontinent: relics of the Raj, institutions that were set up as bolt-holes for the British, where they could retreat to row or swim or play cricket or race horses.’
Budapest 2015
Wojciech Tochman
‘To the delight of the little kids, who had seen a good deal of killing in their lives, a middle-aged man blew soap bubbles.’
Cairo: September 2014
Wiam El-Tamami
‘Over the past few months, the government has been ad-libbing the time.’