Two Temple Place... Astor and Morris

post from dovegreyreader scribbles on 27 January 2012 07:35:59 PM. © dovegreyreader scribbles

Fran and I continued our London Day of Culture to Perk Up the Spirits in Dismal January (and which we enjoyed so much we might make into an annual event) with a short stroll from the Museum of London, along the Embankment to Two Temple Place and the William Morris exhibition. This had been in my sights on my last two London trips but William and I just couldn't co-ordinate our dates no matter how hard we tried... closed on Tuesday ...closed again for a private function on the Wednesday I had planned to visit a few weeks later, so I was relieved to get there just before Story, Memory, Myth closes.

The rest of London, if not the country, if not the world had had the very same idea, and on that day too would you believe it, so the place was heaving.

No party thrown by original owner William Waldorf Astor can ever have involved so many people trying to get up and down the staircase at any one time, and what the famously flamboyant carved Four Musketeers gracing the newel posts must have thought was anyone's guess. I don't know about you but I am fine in crowds until my 'elf and safety' lobe kicks in and I think 'what if there was a fire?'. I don't panic, I just want to clock the exits and start to make my way out quietly.

It happened to me once at a Boden Sale; those pop-up bargain days they used to hold in rural venues and for which they would send out about 10,000 invitations and 9,999 people would turn up. Powderham Castle near to collapse under the weight of loaded baby buggies being passed over heads in order for people to get a foot nearer tables piled high with...well, what looked like a load of jumble. I actually rang Bookhound from the corner I was trapped in to ask him to contact someone at Boden HQ, report the mayhem and send in the troops, and to tell him I may be some time making my escape so don't put the dinner on yet.

Fortunately common sense prevailed at Temple Place and as Fran and I burst out of the doors, carried in the general direction of the exit on a sort of mosh pit of Morris-mania, admission had been stopped and was being ticketed for later in the day. We did manage to get a glimpse of some fabulous tapestries, sketches, paintings, wallpapers and also the Astor house, the perfect setting. I would love a closer look at the house another day, so much carving and panelling, all very sumptuous and Fran and I were both drawn to this wonderful stained glass window.

A closer look reveals really intricate detail but having settled down on the surprisingly empty window seat to study it, only to find ourselves surrounded by the hordes on the guided tour, we quickly moved on and then bought postcards in the shop.

It was all enough to fire me up for the read of Fiona McCarthy's biography, Edward Burne-Jones, The Last Pre-Raphaelite as there was plenty of EBJ in evidence, but I also hot-footed to the shelves when I arrived home to find the book on the Astor family. I read When the Astors Owned New York by Justin Kaplan on a seven hour flight back from Houston a few years ago and it was good to remind myself of this excellent read whilst swotting up on the background... death of cousin Jack on the Titanic and dear old William Waldorf, described by Justin Kaplan as every Englishman's nightmare...

'the American invader who bought his way into society, bought estates that were part of the nation's heritage, denied the public access to them...and could outspend, outcollect, outentertain, and outbuild anyone in England.'

Two Temple Place was bought and renovated with added crenellations as William Waldorf Astor's London pied-a-terre and business HQ in the dying years of the nineteenth century.

Serving as a private museum for his art and books collection, apparently including Shakespeare folios, the house was a place where he could also escape his family back in the Carlton Square residence and entertain who he pleased. H.G.Wells who interviewed him there revealed the partial extent of the Astor wealth...

'he was drawing gold from New York - perhaps $6 million a year in rents...as effectually as a ferret draws blood from a rabbit...'

In fact William's inheritance from his parents was estimated at between $150 million and $300 million, give or take the odd million which all meant he could afford a really flamboyant weather vane for the roof as well...

Always fearful of kidnappers and theft, Astor kept a loaded pistol to hand and the building was apparently equipped with a state-of the art security system which at the press of a button would lock and bar all windows and entrances ..which always feels like another fire hazard to me. Of course the wealth also stretched to the purchase of Cliveden followed by Hever Castle, and you can't knock it, at one point he was keeping 840 workers employed in renovations.

Anyway the exhibition was fabulous in every sense, the tapestries especially breathtaking and it was thankfully possible (with elbows) to look at them very closely and see the intricate and complex stitching, as well as brushstrokes and pencil workings for the wallpapers and their designs, and whilst I don't want to be the insitigator of a stampede, if you do live nearby it is the final day of the exhibition today.

Read The Full Article:
http://dovegreyreader.typepad.com/dovegreyreader_scribbles/2012/01/2-temple-place
-astor-and-morris.html

Digg this

In sight or out of sight: What's the best way to
be a fictional detective

post from Detectives Beyond Borders on 27 January 2012 06:36:57 PM. © Detectives Beyond Borders

"You have to be able to walk around in plain sight. What I?m talking about is being invisible in front of everyone?s eyes. You have to learn to be a ghost, and not like Casper. I mean fucking gone. ... Only your words will make you invisible. You got to make people uncomfortable, make them want to look somewhere else. And I?m not talking about the ?Fuck you? shit you tried. When you want to stay invisible, you have to use remarks that put people on the defence. Put something mean and uncomfortable out there, then fade back. People will be glad to ignore you then."

? Mike Knowles, In Plain Sight

"Yes, and your office should be in a Georgian or very modernistic building in the Sunset Eighties. Suite Something-or-other. And your clothes should be jazzy, very jazzy indeed, Steve. To be inconspicuous in this town is to be a busted flush."

? Raymond Chandler, "The King in Yellow"

© Peter Rozovsky 2012

Read The Full Article:
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2012/01/in-sight-or-out-of-sight-what
s-best-way.html

Digg this

Why dont I do more writer interviews

post from The Story's Story on 27 January 2012 02:47:53 PM. © The Story's Story

A reader wrote to ask why I don’t do more writer interviews. Good question. To do an interview with a writer, a bunch of things have to align: 1) I have to like their book. 2) So far I’ve only done face-to-face interviews, which means the writer and I have to occupy the same geographic [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://jseliger.com/2012/01/27/why-dont-i-do-more-writer-interviews/

Digg this

Why dont I do more writer interviews

post from The Story's Story on 27 January 2012 02:47:53 PM. © The Story's Story

Digg this

Winners of The Rebel Wife

post from She Is Too Fond Of Books ... on 27 January 2012 01:58:55 PM. © She Is Too Fond Of Books ...

Did you enter to win Taylor M. Polites’ The Rebel Wife?

Click over to this post on my Giveaways page to see if you’re one of the three lucky winners!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.sheistoofondofbooks.com/2012/01/27/winners-of-the-rebel-wife/

Digg this

ottawater #8 is now on-line! launch tonight,

post from rob mclennan's blog on 27 January 2012 12:38:14 PM. © rob mclennan's blog

the eighth issue of the Ottawa pdf poetry annual ottawater, edited by rob mclennan, is now live, featuring new writing by Sylvia Adams, John Barton, Stephanie Bolster, Frances Boyle, Sara Cassidy, Anita Dolman, Richard Froude, Phil Hall, Marilyn Irwin, Alastair Larwill, Anne Le Dressay, Robin K. Macdonald, Rob Manery, Karen Massey, Christine McNair, Justin Million, Cath Morris, Colin Morton, K.I. Press, Bardia Sinaee, jesslyn delia smith, Priscila Uppal and Andy Weaver, as well as interviews with Michael Dennis and Christine McNair.

Come out to the launch (featuring readings by a number of this issue?s contributors) on Friday, January 27, upstairs at The Carleton Tavern, Parkdale at Armstrong; doors 7pm, reading 7:30pm.

Read The Full Article:
http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2012/01/ottawater-8-is-now-on-line-launch.html

Digg this

Houghton Mifflin Harcourts Amazon Deal & Art of
Letter Writing: Top Stories of the Week

post from GalleyCat on 27 January 2012 12:23:15 PM. © GalleyCat

For your weekend reading pleasure, here are our top stories of the week, including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s shocking news about Amazon, a fake Cormac McCarthy Twitter account and Jack Gantos‘ Newbery Medal winning novel (pictured).

Click here to sign up for GalleyCat?s daily email newsletter, getting all our publishing stories, book deal news, videos, podcasts, interviews, and writing advice in one place.

1. 10 Bestselling Books with More Than 80 One-Star Reviews
2. What?s the Best Book You?ve Read in a Single Day?
3. Cormac McCarthy Did Not Join Twitter
4. Pinterest Tips for Writers
5. INFOGRAPHIC: Most Quoted Books of 2011
6. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to Distribute Amazon Books
7. J.R.R. Tolkien & George Orwell Removed From Public Domain
8. Best Mystery Books of 2011
9. Revive the Lost Art of Letter Writing Next Month
10. Jack Gantos Wins the Newbery Medal

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/houghton-mifflin-harcourts-amazon-deal-art-o
f-letter-writing-top-stories-of-the-week_b46123

Digg this

Seven Reasons to Read A Dance to the Music of
Time

The romantic relationships in this series are an utter mess. Almost everyone who gets married gets divorced, usually sooner rather than later; there's infidelity all over the place; there is voyeurism and necrophilia and people showing up in the nude at surprising times.

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/themillionsblog/fedw/~3/EVqzePNz4tQ/seven-reasons-
to-read-a-dance-to-the-music-of-time.html

Digg this

Shriver on Kids, Movies

We once wondered if Lionel Shriver is America’s best writer, and she once shared with us her love for William Trevor. In an interview with The Atlantic, she talks about not having kids and says the adaptation of We Need to Talk about Kevin “is a far better film than I had any reason to [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/themillionsblog/fedw/~3/Jkk2MUMcdfc/shriver-on-kid
s-movies.html

Digg this

Fake Cormac McCarthy Twitter Account Suspended

Join me in welcoming @CormacCMcCarthy to Twitter! We have the best authors in the world right here.
? Jack Dorsey (@jack) January 24, 2012

The strange saga of the fake Cormac McCarthy Twitter feed has ended. The Twitter feed that once excited writers around the Internet now reads: “Account suspended. The profile you are trying to view has been suspended.”

Oddly enough, the fake feed managed to fool more readers this week–including Twitter executive chairman Jack Dorsey (his tweet, later retracted, is embedded above).

Explore more tweets below–you can also read the fake Cormac McCarthy tweets archived here. We contacted Twitter for comment earlier this week, but we haven’t received a response. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/fake-cormac-mccarthy-account-suspended_b4612
6

Digg this