New Year, New Update

I updated the website for the first time in a while today, with a selection of articles from the last months of 2009. It is impossible within the site’s current framework to post everything I write, so, under the “Most Recent” heading on the Print page, I have posted a general grab-bag, including: an Irish Times op-ed defending the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama; a Wall Street Journal review of Nick Hornby’s latest novel; a Daily Beast piece from October about another apparent memory-lapse by Hillary Clinton; an Irish Independent article looking ahead to the next decade in the U.S.; and a Sunday Business Post review of Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue. I can only post five articles at a time in the section. Anyone looking for my article about the Clintons, which ran as part of the Guardian’s end-of-decade “I’ve changed my mind about…” series, can find it here. Talking of Guardian-related matters, my friend Emma Brockes has a very lovely new website which is well worth a look, and which you can now access from the Links page.

New Update: Salon, New Republic, Irish Times

It’s time for another update of assorted articles from recent months.
Judging from the reaction it received on Salon’s website, I suspect this profile of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson may be the most-read article I’ve written in quite a while. Although the profile appeared back in May, The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf gave his own [...]

Recent articles: Salon, Daily Beast, Guardian

I have a piece up on The Daily Beast today seeking to explain the appeal of Nick Clegg, the leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats, to an American readership. The article’s appearance reminded me that I have written several pieces for U.S. media in recent months, and not referenced them here.
For Salon, I wrote about Charlie [...]

The Case For Obama’s Nobel Prize

The committee has a tradition of selecting winners as much as an act of encouragement towards their goal as a celebration of the miles already travelled.

Nick Hornby book review (WSJ)

“Juliet, Naked” is a rich and perceptive novel, with a keen sense of the lives led by the trio at its core.

Going Rogue book review (SBP)

It should, in theory, be possible to separate out one’s opinion of a book from one’s opinion of its author. But, in Sarah Palin’s case, it is hard to maintain the wall of separation.
Part of the issue is Palin herself. She has a good claim to the title of America’s most divisive politician. After all, [...]