Welcome to The Midnight Bell.

This is the successor to the London News Review Books Diary, a literary blog that was admired by the New York Times (’easily the funniest of the lit blogs’) and the Guardian (’like taking a peek inside the mind of your oddest, funniest friend’).

So. It’s pretty funny around here. Hilarious, in fact. Here’s a post about my mother dying.

All my articles from the old site are up in the archive for January, along with some other bits I did around the place. Some of the LNRBD classics are missing, though, since they’re the work of Charlie or Al: so, sadly, no Bergdorf Blondes, no Dawkins poetastry, no Police Academy/Enid Blyton analysis.

That’s right: other people did the best bits, and all that’s left is a few weak jokes about Borges and some bursts of blood rage at Nick Hornby.

The name’s from the Patrick Hamilton novel. It’s collected in 20,000 Streets Under the Sky. Read it if you haven’t already.

And do mail me if you have anything to say.