This is the strange thing about South Africa - for all its corruption and crime, it seems to offer a stimulating sense that anything is possible. Justin Cartwright africacorruptioncrime Change image and share on social
Homer Collyer's chosen form of self-expression is the piano, although late in life, when his hearing also goes, he takes to writing. Justin Cartwright choosecollyexpression Change image and share on social
Strangely enough, the legend of John Brown, who was clearly crazy, helped the abolitionist cause and is thought to have precipitated the American Civil War. Justin Cartwright abolitionistamericanbrown Change image and share on social
In a way, advertising, for all its shallowness, its love of design, its modishness and its self-justification, is curiously innocent. The idea of the hidden persuader or the manipulator is largely absurd. Justin Cartwright absurdadvertisecuriously share on social
My own interest in Kafka's letter came about when I was writing an article on Peter Ginz, the boy novelist held in Terezin, not far from Prague, and exterminated in Auschwitz by the Nazis. The Ginz family were from more or less the same milieu as the Kafkas. Justin Cartwright articleauschwitzboy share on social
A connection between poetry and blindness is a classical trope. Justin Cartwright blindnessclassicalconnection Change image and share on social
When I wrote my first serious novel, 'Interior', I was inspired by a 1978 book of Updike's, 'The Coup', which is set in Africa and will come as a delightful surprise to anyone who has only read his Americana. Justin Cartwright africaamericanabook share on social
Just before the opening of the 20th century, the Collyer brothers, Homer and Langley, are born into great privilege on the Upper East Side of New York, in a mansion overlooking Central Park. Justin Cartwright 20thbearbrother Change image and share on social
Winning the Whitbread was a very major thing for me. I'd always been well reviewed, but this made me widely read. Justin Cartwright majormakeread Change image and share on social
'Homer and Langley' is the work of E. L. Doctorow's old age. There are fewer Homeric references than you might have expected, given that the narrator is called Homer Collyer and is blind, although, like the classical Homer, not born blind. Justin Cartwright agebearblind share on social
