Lifestyle

South Africans are so much better than Australians when it comes to swearing. Possibly not quantity — Australians are said to be unusually prolix when it comes to coarse language — but when it comes to quality, I believe that we klap them stukkend. I was prompted to reflect on the critically important issue that […]

One of the best books I’ve ever read is William Sutcliffe’s Are you experienced?, a devastating send–up on the culture of middle–class kids on their obligatory gap year, backpacking around on a “third world poverty adventure holiday.” Read it — I guarantee you’ll laugh like a drain. Perhaps the reason I enjoyed that novel so […]

I never thought I would say this. In fact, there was a time when I regarded anyone who moved to Australia as a traitor, and quite possibly racist. The sort of person South Africa would be better off without, as Pallo Jordan might say. When JM Coetzee moved to Australia and learned how to smile, […]

So here’s the thing — novel–writing takes up quite a lot of time. And while I do love writing blog posts, when I’m spending all morning with my head in a new book and all afternoon freelancing to make enough money to keep me in tea and toast, it’s quite tricky to comment on my […]

To solve the environmental challenges that we face today will require more than simply applying a new set of rules and regulations, it will require nothing less than a shift in our understanding and the underlying values that motivate our current behaviour. Or as more eloquently expressed by Albert Einstein, “The world we have created […]

Patrice Motsepe, South Africa’s football and mining oligarch, last week took time to chill, as they say, with visiting US Hip Hop star 50 Cent. Motsepe even attended 50’s show at The Dome, in Johannesburg. And to compensate for Motsepe nodding and humming along to rather strange music in the company of teenagers and 20–somethings, […]

There was a time in my life some years ago when a dark fear stalked me: that I was destined to become the last person on earth who could not kick the smoking habit. Like a fat person in a bakery, I was losing control. Reminiscences about smoking seem such a grubby subject for a […]