The Literary Guide to London Book

A Literary Guide to London is a terrific book: good fun as well as erudite and informative. As well as addresses, directions (and, where relevant, opening times and admission details to sites and museums), there is a wealth of information on London's bookshops and a degree of detail that will be appeal to the committed enthusiast as much as to the more casual reader. It bears both lengthy study and dipping into for facts on favourite authors and areas (the two indexes are arranged to help search in both categories). The scope of the book is enormous. Authors from Chaucer to Nick Hornby are present (the last begrudgingly granted "perhaps one entry too many"--yes, that means one), but as one might expect there is more emphasis on the acknowledged "greats" than on the modern popular writers. Consequently, don't expect the address of Bridget Jones favoured Cafe Rouge--but if you want to add another level to your knowledge of Eliot's The Waste Land or where Sherlock Holmes conducted his investigations, this is the book for you. Under-achieving sites are dismissed with one withering comment that resonates far more deeply than a more extensive comment might. Bloomsbury's Hotel Russell "has a Virginia Woolf Burger Bar and Grill" we are told--need we read more? It is these haughty touches that make this as enjoyable a read in its own right as it is an interesting and informative guide. --Richard KellyRead More