Dear Readers,
Good evening – we’re confident you’re having a suitably festive Christmas Eve. Now, it’s very likely that you’ve bought all the presents for your friends and family, so you can turn your attention to a more deserving beneficiary: yourself.
And we are here to help in that regard. Earlier this month, Eater published their ‘Awards of the Year’ – a list that seems to be compiled with restaurants set up by friends of that publication – and we thought, hey, that’s a good idea. Seriously. Let’s put our spin on that.
So, we’ve got a gift-for-me-guide with some books (and a few other things). But here’s the twist: every single author or artist on this list is a TF subscriber or newsletter reader. It’s a level of honest corruption we reckon you’ll all appreciate.
As most of you will know, we launched an appeal to hit 2,000 subscribers by the end of the year last Tuesday. Then, we had 1901 subscribers; now, we have 1952. So we are very much on track. We launched the appeal with endorsements from some boldface names, and we now have many more welcome clangs of approval – and we’ll just pick three here. Paul Oswell says that TF is ‘incredibly funny and interesting’. New York media mogul, Daisy Alioto, declares us to be ‘to be the best magazine that side of the Atlantic’, and Imogen Dewey simply tweets ‘I love this mag.’
And that’s what we like to hear! So, if you’d like to subscribe, and help us summit our lofty goal, then there is a link right here. If you have already subscribed, or if you are just suffused with a general spirit of goodwill, then please do share the appeal on Twitter or Instagram – we will need our readers to help us over the line.
Anyway, to business: here’s our Rotten Borough Listicle. Most of these items have been made by people in their twenties or thirties, but all of them merit your attention.
All The Best Ones Sound Banging
Dennis Duncan’s History of the Index is a witty and wide-ranging history of the subject, and makes a welcome reference to Fence favourite, Hugh Trevor-Roper, who directed readers to ‘Peterhouse: high-table conversation not very agreeable, 46; main source of perverts, 113’. Dennis’ book featured on the Washington Post and the NYT’s ‘best of the year’ list, which is really very good work indeed. You can buy a copy right now.
Sejal Sukhadwala’s The Philosophy of Curry hit the Times’ books of the year, and it’s a fascinating survey of the cultural intersections between England and India – it’s a short, acute, clever book, and available for purchase at this link here.
Many of you will have wondered why Sebastian Payne is leaving a plum job at the FT to work at a think tank, when he is such a lavishly gifted journalist. His book on The Fall of Boris Johnson is the political title of the year, and is an immaculately sourced work on the Last Days in Big Dog’s Bunker (yes, they really did use both of those terms without the slightest hint of irony).
For most of our readers, VICE UK’s output in the early 2010s was the highpoint in British journalism in the last decade, and much of the verve and originality emanating from Shoreditch was due to Kev Kharas, who left the mothership some years ago to pursue a career in music with his band, Real Lies. Their most recent album, Lad Ash, has been appraised by both The Quietus and the New Yorker as one of the best of the year (in a marquee year for music) and you can stream up (or down?) to your heart’s desire at this link here.
Lovers of our printed magazine will be familiar with the work of John Broadley, the Yorkshire-born artist whose work has adorned many past issues. John has drawn the cover and the inside illustrations for Jeremy Lee’s Cooking: Simply and Well, For One and Many. Jeremy is the beloved chef at Dean Street’s Quo Vadis, and has written what is, by some distance, the cookbook of the year, and if you’re looking to show off in the kitchen while using the best of British produce, then you need to have this on your shelf.
Katy Hessel’s The Story Of Art Without Men was featured in this parish’s newsletter some months ago, and has since gone on to win Waterstones’ ‘Book of the Year’ – a richly deserved prize for a book that will be read in the years to come. Yes, it’s so good that it's hard not to write about it in clichés. Every household should have a copy.
Another book that has won a share of laurels on both sides of the Atlantic is James Vincent’s Beyond Measure, which charts human history from the Before Times when we had no mass, no height, no volume. You learn something new on every page – and you can secure a copy here.
Our free lunch editor, Ed Cumming, works as chief features writer for the Telegraph when he is called away from the table. One of his pieces for that venerable publication was a barely believable tale in which he tries to pretend that he is riven with jealousy at the success of his friends’ HBO smash hit, Industry. Anyone familiar with Ed’s Instagram stories knows this to be a tall tale indeed. He is milking every moment of celeb-adjacent fame for what it’s worth. Konrad Kay and Mickey Down’s show is one of the most exciting programmes to hit screens this year, and all 16 episodes are available to stream on iPlayer.
Our own entry to the canon, Shit Literary Siblings, takes the briefest looks at the forgotten brothers and sisters of literature’s most infamous characters, and is now selling at the very agreeable price of £8.50. It’s the ideal late, late gift for a jolly mother-in-law or a difficult, bookish teen.
Jonathan Nunn set up Vittles, a newsletter we have collaborated with this year to great success. His book, London Feeds Itself, is now on its second print run, and has won praise from Nigella Lawson – and pretty much every other food writer of note in the country. It’s a portrait of London as vital as Ian Nairn’s, and if you haven’t read it already, do make the time for it in 2023.
Lastly, Patrick Galbraith’s In Search Of One Last Song has won many accolades – but deserves many more. Tracking the communities who look after Britain’s countryside, it’s a sterling piece of journalism and a funny, warm study of people who don’t often make the headlines. It’s the editor’s book of the year (but then he’s only read about nine in 2022). But do buy a copy here.
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If we’ve missed anyone off the list, then do wing us an email and we’ll make it right in next Tuesday’s newsletter, which will be a return to form, as we turn our backs on promo and give you another blast of featurettes, funnies and links, and all for free.
We wish you a very Merry Christmas.
All the best,
TF
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