The Spoons That Are My Ears!

Publication of Engelbrecht Again! is imminent and there will be a small party to celebrate the much anticipated arrival of my long delayed Magnum Opus. Anyone who wants to come just needs to send me an email, but don't expect dionysian debaucheries or corybantic fulgors (though I'll try to persuade Adele to dance) as it's more likely to be just a small pleasant gathering. Think mild revelery rather than wild!

Last week the world said goodbye to Barrington J Bayley, one of the most underrated writers in the history of literature. Not much of the world said goodbye to him (because he was so underrated) but most of it should have sat up and taken some sort of notice. Bayley was a pulp Borges, a space opera Zeno, his concepts the equal of those masters, his polyrhythmic plotting without parallel (without even those parallels that meet at infinity), his grasp and control of paradox rather incredible. Quite simply he was a genius.

Bayley is one of the most poignant examples of the unfairness of the business. We live (and probably always have) in an age where intellectual generosity is misunderstood and treated with suspicion. Popular writers of fantastical fiction give the reading public one or two 'ideas' per book. We are comfortable with such paucity because it doesn't challenge us. We can't really stand what Bayley offered -- dozens of ultra-clever original high level IDEAS per chapter -- though we always claim that's exactly what we want!

Bayley was a high concept writer who worked out his amazing conceits in the guise of hardish science fiction. Apart from the surfeit of ideas, the potential reader of his work will have to cope with his downbeat endings and generally bleak philosophy, both of which undoubtedly worked against his chances of achieving major recognition. But it also has to be pointed out that he didn't seem to want to help himself much. His hunger for fame was minimal or even non-existent. Shame.

Here's a picture of Adele kissing a sunflower. This photo was taken in Wales, so why aren't there clouds in front of the petals? Most strange! Adele has been baking bread: the finest bread I've ever tasted. Garlic bread too: the finest garlic bread I've ever had!

The real summer was a washout but we had an Indian summer. Tomahawks clattered on the pavements, arrows shredded the curtains... Not really: but the past two or three weeks have been generally sunny (though getting cold). We had a big fire on the beach and cooked corn-on-the-cob in the embers. Yum! It was many years before I learned how to barbecue maize properly: you simply leave the leaves on. Stuart Ross taught me that. It works!