Critics? Don't talk to me of critics! You think some jackanapes journalist, his soul eaten away by the maggots of jealousy and failure, has anything worthwhile to say of art? I don't. Jonathan Raban artcriticeat Change image and share on social
'Rage' is the word that most often attaches itself to the Tea Party movement, and it's true that, from the outside looking in, their public demonstrations appear to be more enraged than any political events in America since the race riots and anti-war protests of the 1960s. Jonathan Raban 1960samericaanti share on social
When I want an opinion, I'll get it from my peers - from men of vision, like our great railroad builders... Stanford, Huntington, Dinsmore... fellows with imaginations broad enough to span the continent. Jonathan Raban broadbuildercontinent share on social
In an underdeveloped country don't drink the water. In a developed country don't breathe the air. Jonathan Raban airbreathecountry Change image and share on social
'Dreams From My Father' reveals more about Obama than is usually known about political leaders until after they're dead. Perhaps more than it intends, it shows his mind working, in real time, sentence by sentence, in what feels like a private audience with the reader. Jonathan Raban audiencedeaddream share on social
I've taught the better class of tourist both to see and not to see; to lift their eyes above and beyond the inessentials, and thrill to our western Nature in her majesty. Jonathan Raban classeyehave Change image and share on social
Lincoln, steeped in the Bible and Shakespeare, set an impossibly high bar for presidential prose. Jonathan Raban barbiblehigh Change image and share on social
Because Washington state now votes by mail, elections here tend to play out, at an agonizingly slow speed, over many days and, sometimes, weeks. Jonathan Raban agonizinglydayelection Change image and share on social
No president has come near to rivaling Lincoln as a writer. Jonathan Raban lincolnpresidentrivale Change image and share on social
Seattle is a liberal city, its politics not so much blue (in the American, not the British, sense) as deep ultramarine, and its manners are studiously polite. Jonathan Raban americanbluebritish Change image and share on social