My Cultural Life

I'm in The Observer today, the review section having begun a feature called My Cultural Life. One doesn't mind them editing it but it would be better if they didn't make it mean the opposite of what I'd said. The misunderstanding occurs when they think Danny Baker's show is a football phone-in, but never mind. You can't believe anything you read in the papers. What I sent in was this,

My Cultural Life

I keep Radio 5 on most of the time at home but have developed the quick reactions needed to switch over to Radio 3 when a football phone-in starts. Danny Baker is back to his glorious best on Saturday mornings while Radio 3 often succeeds if you don’t check what’s on and let it surprise you.
I’ve been reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson after hearing so much about it. After a slow start it has picked up very well and is starting to live up to its reputation. But I don’t read very much fiction these days. I’ve been looking at The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara to decide once and for all if his casual vernacular deserves to be treated as important poetry. I’m still not sure but it is a likeable book. On order is Identity Parade, a forthcoming anthology of British and Irish poets that have emerged since the mid-1990’s edited by Roddy Lumsden. Poets are looking younger these days, like policemen have been doing for a long time, and it will be interesting to see what they are up to.
Also on order is Thomas Ades’ CD, Violin Concerto & Tevot. Some reviews virtually demand you buy certain items although one needs to read between the lines a bit to decide if the reviewer is on your wavelength. CD’s suddenly seem so old-fashioned and I can’t remember when I last went into a shop for one but one-click buying is alarmingly easy to do. The Magnetic Fields’ Realism was another potent mixture of dark humour and gorgeous romanticism. It is unlikely that the achievement of 69 Love Songs will be repeated but they are my favourite pop act by a distance and we are looking forward to seeing them again, at the Barbican next month.