Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - a perfect Sunday read

“For a 21st c. novel, there is something charmingly anachonistic about this book, as though it was one of those forgotten classics republished by Persephone Books. This is probably the fault of Major Pettigrew, who clearly is a throwback to another era, still holding onto the Empire through the antique shotgun inherited from his father. The Major's wisdom and wit is primarly extended to others, but the arc of the novel is his awakening to his faults, sometimes by listening carefully to the wisdom of others. It perhaps goes without saying that the reader is rewarded with happy endings. And why not?”

The amazing Patti Smith

I should not have been surprised that Patti Smith surpassed any expectations I had about how great this book was going to be. I remember when I was given her album "Horses" one Christmas long ago and how knocked out I was by her original voice. Same again.