I’m not sure whether this is the ideal way to write, but it appeals to me at the moment and, aside from the fact that my fingers cannot seem to hit the right keys as easily as usual, due undoubtedly to the different position, it seems to work. I am stretched out on my couch,…

The Internet is a wonderful invention: it offers a wealth of information to those willing to search and learn; it provides a means of communication between people who might never have met otherwise, and the chance to exchange views and opinions, to live the experiences of people far away. It helps minds meet across the…

I thought you might be interested in a very short exchange I had the pleasure of experiencing, since you are so keen on finding the underside of society and, occasionally, exposing it. As you know my interest in letter writing takes me in many directions, some of the pleasant, some of them very short-lived. In…

It is very hard for me to imagine any half-way successful educational system which does not include the humane arts. It may well be that such a system is graded according to the results achieved in examinations, but that cannot be the deciding factor. Most people can learn dates and numbers by heart, spewing them…

The most interesting thing about letter writing is that it is usually shared with only one other person, unless they decide to pass their letter on to other people, as used to be done in the nineteenth century. It was not uncommon then that a letter writer received a reply from someone he had not…

Dear Sarah Bakewell, It was with great pleasure that I worked through your latest book – At the Existentialist Café – although it is difficult to term such an exercise in reading as work when so much pleasure is involved. Enough to say that it brought me and, undoubtedly, many other readers, in closer contact…

Dear McDonald’s Employee, thank you for taking my order this morning in a courteous and friendly manner, I appreciate it and also appreciate the fact that you are able to remain calm and friendly even when your customers treat you like a piece of dirt. I also appreciate the fact that, despite what many believe,…