Alex Christofi's Blog, page 3

Why Place is Character

There’s this idea that we are born as a discrete unit, placed onto the surface of the world, moving around in a fleshy little body. The world is just a map that you land on, randomly spawned like a character in a video game. And that idea is quite convenient for anyone who subscribes to a broadly liberal world view, because it allows us to believe in the ‘accident of birth’, an idea that ‘I’ could have been born anywhere and happened to fall out here and now. But unfortunately, each of us onl...

A strange, wise novel

George Saunders is the most lauded short-story writer living today, revered in America to the point of canonisation. Among many other accolades, he has been awarded a Macarthur “Genius” Fellowship and named by TIME magazine, in a characteristic departure from reality, as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

He rose to prominence in the UK in 2013 with publication of his short story collection The Tenth of December, a bright, brilliant firework of a collection, which received r...

Book review: Against Everything

Against Everything: On Dishonest Times (Verso) by Mark Greif

Mark Greif is a founding editor of N+1, a New York magazine founded in 2004 which, in retaliation against a prevailing culture of irony and indifference, declared in its first issue that it was “time to say what you mean”. Greif and his co-founders appeared to be answering the call of David Foster Wallace a decade earlier, when he had written in the Review of Contemporary Fiction that “the next real literary ‘rebels’ in this country...

An open letter to Chuka Umunna

Dear Mr Umunna,

This is the first time I have written to an MP, and I hope you’ll forgive me that I’m not in yourconstituency. I’m writing to you with a request that you take seriously the idea of running for the leadership of the Labour Party.

Today’s result has been a shock for many people in the country. The economy is already in freefall and won’t recover in the short term. The great irony here is that those who were most keen to leave the EU are also those who are most economically d...

The Cable Guy: a swansong for privacy

Imagine it’s 1996. The Iraq War is a thing of the distant past and you’ll never have to hear the name George Bush again.Leonardo DiCaprio is still twenty years away from his Oscar. Will Smith is still the name of a character played by Will Smith in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Tom Cruise is yet to star in Magnolia as the charismatic leader of a cult convinced by his own meaningless affirmations, let alone become that man in real life.

Now imagine it’s not just 1996, but you’reJim Carrey. Ever...

Why Write Novels?

Writing is like drinking beer: at first you don’t like it but it feels grown up; then you enjoy it, but you’re not very good at it; last of all, you stop enjoying it, but by that point it’s the thing you’re best at, so you decide to stick with it.

I can’t say when or why I started writing. The truth is that I have always done it. I wrote before I had any interest in why I wrote or what its purpose might be. I felt instinctively that words were the only way to arrange a thought, and arranging...

Growing up

When you’re a child, people tell you the most important thing is to be good and not get in trouble. If they’re feeling expansive, they mumble something about homework. As far as everyone tells you, those are the two important things in life: morality and homework. They also tell you to enjoy it while it lasts! That’s when you know they are crazy. Quite naturally, you are waiting out your childhood until that glorious day when you can get in your car, drive to the casino, order a beer, win tho...

Harry Potter is Basically the Internet

All around us is an invisibleworld where geeks are cool…

1.Smartphones Thank God for the lumosapp. – – 2. Maps You are here. – – 3. Blogs Everyone’s darkest memories. – – 4. Wikipedia A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. – – 5. Links How the hell did I get here? – – 6.404 Errors ‘The room you requested has not been found.’ – – 7.Google You think you can live withouthim. You’re wrong. – – 8. Bitcoin Because some young men becomeinexplicably rich overnight. – – 9.Twitter We’ve al...

How Harry Potter is Basically the Internet

All around us is an invisibleworld where geeks are cool…

1.Smartphones Thank God for the lumosapp. – – 2. Maps You are here. – – 3. Blogs Everyone’s darkest memories. – – 4. Wikipedia A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. – – 5. Links How the hell did I get here? – – 6.404 Errors ‘The room you requested has not been found.’ – – 7.Google You think you can live withouthim. You’re wrong. – – 8. Bitcoin Because some young men becomeinexplicably rich overnight. – – 9.Twitter We’ve al...

The Middle Way – a short story

Before now, I have often joked about drunk me. I would come into the office to find a package on my desk. Drunk me ordered a book I wanted but couldn’t afford. I would claim to find this lack of self-control irritating, but of course I was pleased. It often seemed that no one knew me like drunk me. The gifts were thoughtful, modest enough, like a new lover waking up early to buy fresh bread.

It was a sort of running joke in the office, albeit one that I initiated. My colleague across the low...