BillF

Ward Pinkett Red Holloway The Hollow Men

Ford Maddox Brown Captain Haddock Doxy

Brian Spring Ann Summers Reuben McFall

Christopher Logue Joseph Wood Krutch James Cain

Mike Hunt General Tuat of Papua New Guinea Harriet Quimby

Classic indeed!

Punch Miller Rockwell Knuckles Dee Thrasher

Metallica Tommy Steele Fred Iron

Two things come to mind: Stravinsky's L'histoire du soldat, which I've always liked. The first jazz records were made at this time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ODJB

I've never owned any of the Black Lion discs, but saw the Giants of Jazz in London. This morning I revisited the show preserved here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUVuX3lLrdg

A Guy So Nice They Had To Name Him Twice Twinz Gemini

If you really want to swim against the tide, try Molly Keane or better yet Barbara Comyns. The latter has one of the most unique literary voices I've ever come across. I wouldn't want to befriend any of her feckless characters, but the writing is generally quite compelling, and as I think I mentioned before both Keane and Comyns get to the point. Very few of their novels crack the 250 page mark. That said, I like Barbara Pym quite a bit, when I am in the right mood. I read all her novels in my 20s and recently picked up a box set of them to give them another go, ideally starting next year. I do, perversely, like An Academic Question the best, which most aficionados consider her worst! I am nearly done with Proust's The Fugitive, then will read Elizabeth Jane Howard's Falling, then Keane's Treasure Hunt and finally Comyns' The House of Dolls (I believe this is her final novel). Didn't see BillF's comment when it was first posted, so I'll respond to that first. I haven't read any Pym, but my wife has read quite a bit of her and has plenty of titles on her bookshelf, so I should be able to dip into her work. Bayley and A.N Wilson were big fans of Pym. Wilson tells some amusing tales about Pym, and Pym-Iris-Bayley. RE: the linked article, I'm not surprised that Iris' stock has fallen. Bayley's books have done her reputation a lot of harm by turning her image from a serious writer into a crazy old lady in a diaper. Plus she probably wrote too much, but there is a core of work that I think will stay the course. EJP626, I've not come across Keane or Comyns, really new to me, so I will have to take note of them. Feckless characters sound good to me. Iris has quite a bunch in her work as well. I think what sets Iris apart is the philosophical dimension in her work; for better or worse, sometimes more or less successfully, Iris strives to work serious philosophical concepts or issues into her work. A Platonic novelist ,or maybe sometimes just Plato-Lite. Her formula: plenty of sex and higher thoughts. Maybe based on her own life. Seemed to work in life and art. Scottish, not Irish, but I like Muriel Spark quite a bit too. Just wanted to get a mention in of her. Great minds think alike! A return to her is next on my list.

The Beaker People Jug John Drinkwater

The Odd Couple Pierre Even Flat Eric

If you like mid-20th century English female novelists with Irish connections, have you tried Elizabeth Bowen? I'm currently reading her Eva Trout. I strongly recommend The Death of the Heart and The Heat of the Day, but found the avant garde The House in Paris too much to cope with. Yes, good suggestion. I do have Bowen in mind. I think I read some of her eons ago, but need to revisit the work. There are some funny scenes between her and Iris in Wilson's book that got me thinking more about Bowen too. Just came across this article which suggests that by reading people like Iris Murdoch, we're swimming strongly against the tide of today's literary trends. Hooray! It also mentions the continuing popularity of Barbara Pym. Now there's a good novelist! Have you tried her, Leeway? http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/10/literary-reputations-zero-hero-dj-taylor

Little Melonae Paul Mellon Mel B

Pansy Potter Cassius Clay Caesar Romero

Gladys Knight and the Pips Pops Foster papsrus

Mac Rebennack Inspector Knacker of the Yard Margherita del Balzo

Chu Berry Bobby Shew Superintendent Jack Slipper of the Yard

Nick Drake Sir Walter Raleigh The Hairy Bikers

If you like mid-20th century English female novelists with Irish connections, have you tried Elizabeth Bowen? I'm currently reading her Eva Trout. I strongly recommend The Death of the Heart and The Heat of the Day, but found the avant garde The House in Paris too much to cope with.

Argonne Dense Thornton Dumbo Bo Derek

George Adamski Space Brothers Sorcerer's Apprentice

Jasper Johns Sir Jasper Jasper Carrott