The former BBC Washington correspondent chooses five of his favourites. His latest book, "The Forever War: America's Unending Conflict with Itself", is out now.
Glued to the box
The first grown-up book I recall buying with my pocket money was this compilation of Clive James's TV reviews, which features a display of linguistic pyrotechnics every bit as eye-catching as the Sydney fireworks on New Year's Eve. In the land of Waugh and Greene, I joined a cohort of aspiring journalists who wanted to mimic "the kid from Kogarah". Not even James's buddy Christopher Hitchens could have pulled off a zinger likening Arnold Schwarzenegger to "a brown condom full of walnuts", or comparing the mascara and geisha-white complexion of Barbara Cartland to the corpses of two crows that had crashed into a chalk cliff.
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Wifedom
Anna Funder, 2023
"Animal Farm" was a formative influence on me as a young child, just as George Orwell was a formative influence on me as a young journalist. But the book I’d recommend is Funder's, which brings into focus the invisible life of Orwell's wife, Eileen O'Shaughnessy.
The Bonfire of the Vanities
Tom Wolfe, 1987
More so even than a great American novel, I have always loved a great New York novel. Two stand out. Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" perfectly captures the energy of the Big Apple.
Let the Great World Spin
Colum McCann, 2009
This book is another masterpiece. For me, it remains the superlative 9/11 novel, even though it’s set in 1974.
President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime
Lou Cannon,1991
Owing to my fixation with American history, there's a special section on my bookshelf for Robert Caro's portraits of Lyndon Johnson. But Caro fans should also read this classic. Ronald Reagan's performative presidency helps make more sense of Donald Trump, a tycoon who in many ways personified the excesses of the Reagan era.
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Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly TuttleFeature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
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Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
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Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitionsFeature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
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Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
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5 of the best platonic TV friendshipsthe week recommends Maintaining boundaries has proven tricky for all but the most committed of buddies on the small screen
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Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of "Born to Run"'Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
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'Mankeeping': Why women are fed upFeature Women no longer want to take on the full emotional and social needs of their partners
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A guide to the Great Wall of ChinaThe Week Recommends Experience this architectural feat
