Alex Clark

Dreams of oblivion

To escape the superficial life that surrounds her, a rich Manhattan orphan puts herself to sleep for a year in order to experience rebirth

  • My Year of Rest and Relaxation

    Ottessa Moshfegh

    Cape, pp. 288

The new novel by the author of the 2016 Booker shortlisted Eileen is at once a jumble of influences — Oblomov by way of Tama Janowitz and Elizabeth Wurtzl, Bartleby with a touch of Bright Lights, Big City, a lunatic psychiatrist who melds Ayn Rand and William Burroughs — and unnervingly original.

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Michael Simmons

When it comes to education, Scotland is an example of what not to do

Michael Simmons
From the magazine
Scots have, in the past, bragged about having the best education system in the world. Scottish sixth-formers study a broader range of subjects and aren’t forced to specialise too early. And look at our history: the literature, the Enlightenment, our universities, all due to world-class schools. But however true this may once have been, it’s

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