A Day Like Today by John Humphrys review – 'I like arguing'

The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing styleJohn Humphrys is the first to admit he doesn’t deal well with authority. He inherited it from his father, who refused to use the service entrance at the grand houses where he worked as a French polisher and, as a child, once watched his aunt get a humiliating dressing-down from the vicar for missing church. Humphrys had his own brush with condescending authority figures when he was in hospital with a cyst on his spine at 13, and an “arrogant posh bastard consultant” told his retinue of trainees it was because he didn’t wash regularly. “I don’t like being defined or told what to do, whoever is in charge,” he notes, a stance that has proved useful for grilling politicians (he has interviewed eight prime ministers), though it has also landed him in hot water.His memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career and analysis of the evolution of broadcasting with diatribes and petty score-settling. The early chapters tell of his passage from teen lackey on the Penarth Times in Wales, where his main task was standing outside the local church taking the names of those attending weddings and funerals, to being the first journalist on the scene at the Aberfan disaster, near Merthyr Tydfil, in which 116 children and 28 adults died after a colliery tip collapsed. Later he became a BBC foreign correspondent, reporting on the 1971 war... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-10-10 06:30:10 UTC ]
News tagged with: #prime ministers #hot water #military coup #memoir

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A Day Like Today by John Humphrys review – 'I like arguing'

The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing styleJohn Humphrys is the first to admit he doesn’t deal well with authority. He inherited it from his father, who refused to use the service entrance... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-10-10 06:30:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prime ministers #hot water #military coup #memoir


Rows, bloopers and scoops: John Humphrys’ 32 years at Today

The veteran presenter, feared and respected by all sides, is hanging up his mic. We look at his career highs and lowsFor good or ill, after 32 years serving on the frontline of radio news presentation for the Today programme, John Humphrys has become an emblem of BBC journalism. One of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-09-14 16:45:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #today programme #political leaders #jeremy corbyn #prime minister #david cameron #memoir


For the cold and short days ahead, check out these 24 hot new books published today.

It’s the middle of November, which means that, for many of us, the days are a not-quite-enviable blend of colder and shorter (why we still use Daylight Savings Time is a mystery I’ll save for elsewhere). But never fear, there’s a bit of brightness ahead: a whole slew of exciting new books to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-14 10:00:13 UTC ]
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Book Review: John Plotz on Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle reviews John Plotz’s personal reading of a fantasy classic by Ursula K. Le Guin The American author Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) is widely regarded as one of the finest authors of what is broadly termed ‘speculative fiction’.... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2023-10-13 14:00:53 UTC ]
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A Quick Disclaimer Before My Book Review Today…

A BookToker offers a quick disclaimer before a negative review to head off some anticipated complaints in the comments... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-04-19 10:31:00 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Life on Delay,’ by John Hendrickson

John Hendrickson's memoir “Life on Delay” recounts his experience with this poorly understood neurological disorder, tracing an arc from frustration and isolation to acceptance and community. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-01-18 10:00:22 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘The Gotti Wars,’ by John Gleeson

John Gleeson’s “The Gotti Wars” is a memoir about what it took to jail America’s star gangster. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-04-29 20:03:55 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘These Precious Days,’ by Ann Patchett

In her essay collection “These Precious Days,” the novelist and bookstore owner explores friendship, marriage and mortality. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-11-19 15:41:34 UTC ]
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‘We Begin Today the Publication of a Supplement Which Contains Reviews of the New Books’

The New York Times Book Review first appeared on Oct. 10, 1896, but its roots can be traced back to its very first issue of The Times on Sept. 18, 1851. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-22 11:33:55 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Silverview,’ by John le Carré

“Silverview” features a young bookstore owner in an English seaside town, caught up in an investigation involving two cunning spymasters. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-11 09:00:03 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘On the House,’ by John Boehner

“On the House” is an anecdote-rich memoir by the former speaker of the House that fails to give readers the whole picture. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-09 13:05:40 UTC ]
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It’s a good day to rewatch John Lewis accepting the National Book Award.

In case you forgot: in 2016, legendary civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, along with co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell, for his graphic novel March: Book Three, the third volume in his trilogy about his... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-20 13:26:18 UTC ]
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John Bolton's bad reviews don't stop him topping US book charts

The Room Where It Happened, due out later this month if attempts to block publication fail, has received stinging early notices but is already Amazon’s No 1John Bolton’s damning indictment of the Trump presidency is topping bestseller charts in the US a week before its release, despite withering... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-18 11:54:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trump presidency #last-ditch attempt #family created #dangerous man #mary trump #ijeoma oluo #robin diangelo #top spots #bestseller charts


20 new books publishing today, day 723 at home.

The future may be uncertain, but one thing we can always count on is the bunch of new books that come into the world every Tuesday. Welcome, friends. * Emma Straub, All Adults Here  (Riverhead) “Straub cements her status as a master of the domestic ensemble drama.” –TIME   Percival... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-05 13:27:20 UTC ]
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Book review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Turtles All the Way Down is best-selling author John Green's first novel since 2012's runaway success, The Fault in Our Stars. While that book tackled the issue of teens with cancer, this book centres on a protagonist suffering from anxiety and obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviour. Green,... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Have You Hugged Your Indexer Today? It’s the UK’s National Indexing Day

'The professional indexer has been around for a good century longer than the printed book.' And the Society of Indexers is looking for respect. The post Have You Hugged Your Indexer Today? It’s the UK’s National Indexing Day appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lynne Truss: ‘A bad book review can kill you – look at the case of John Hawkesworth’

The tale of a hubristic Georgian book editor is an early example of trolling, and a lesson for us allThe case of the 18th-century man of letters John Hawkesworth is not often invoked, perhaps because no one has heard of him. Books of notable Georgians in England go straight from Hawke to Haydon.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Humphrys on Twitter, TV and why 'sitting down is the new smoking'

The Today presenter spurns social media, could live without television ‘except Mastermind’ but does read books on a iPad (albeit balanced on a lectern)It will come as no surprise to his millions of devoted listeners that the veteran BBC broadcaster John Humphrys despises Twitter, doesn’t do... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Allison Goes to College in ‘Giant Days’

Allison’s new series about young women off to college looks to repeat the success of another Boom! Studios series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Inspired by John Green, bookstores celebrate Esther Day

Esther Day is celebrated on Aug. 3, the birthday of teenager Esther Earl, with whom 'The Fault in Our Stars' author Green became acquainted before she died in 2010. Earl suggested the holiday center on 'the kinds of love that are too often overlooked in our culture: love among friends and... Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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