Christopher Pittard
@christopherpittard.bsky.social
Course leader and Senior Lecturer in Victorian Literature. Specialist in detective fiction, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dickens, Wilkie Collins. New book: *Literary Illusions: Performance Magic and Victorian Literature* (Edinburgh UP, 2025).
Found this fragment of a lost civilisation in the stack of bookmarks by my desk.
November 24, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Found this fragment of a lost civilisation in the stack of bookmarks by my desk.
Amazingly, the US paperback of Roth's *American Pastoral* does the same thing.
November 24, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Amazingly, the US paperback of Roth's *American Pastoral* does the same thing.
In good news, my Blackwell’s purchases arrived today. Disappointed they don’t include the free bookmarks any more, though.
November 20, 2025 at 7:09 PM
In good news, my Blackwell’s purchases arrived today. Disappointed they don’t include the free bookmarks any more, though.
This parenthesis seems rather disingenuous from Polly Toynbee; the reason the UK has had 6 Prime Ministers in 9 years isn't electoral instability, but the Tories' internal incompetence. Of the last four elections (2015, 2017, 2019, 2024), only one resulted in a change of PM.
November 18, 2025 at 12:35 PM
This parenthesis seems rather disingenuous from Polly Toynbee; the reason the UK has had 6 Prime Ministers in 9 years isn't electoral instability, but the Tories' internal incompetence. Of the last four elections (2015, 2017, 2019, 2024), only one resulted in a change of PM.
Watched ep.5 of the new Alan Partridge on iPlayer last night. Surprised to see that Alan owns a Routledge Classics edition of Sartre's *Being and Nothingness*, just to the right of his elbow here.
November 16, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Watched ep.5 of the new Alan Partridge on iPlayer last night. Surprised to see that Alan owns a Routledge Classics edition of Sartre's *Being and Nothingness*, just to the right of his elbow here.
Odd to see this kind of typo in the LRB - is it meant to be 2024?
November 13, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Odd to see this kind of typo in the LRB - is it meant to be 2024?
Spotted this in the Strand Magazine earlier this week while teaching Sherlock Holmes on my Crime Writing module.
November 13, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Spotted this in the Strand Magazine earlier this week while teaching Sherlock Holmes on my Crime Writing module.
Apparently, the problem with the Panorama edit is that it connected Trump's statement of walking to the Capitol with a incitement to fight made an hour later. I can see how that would be misleading, if Trump hadn't referred to walking to the Capitol only 35 seconds *after* talking about fighting.
November 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Apparently, the problem with the Panorama edit is that it connected Trump's statement of walking to the Capitol with a incitement to fight made an hour later. I can see how that would be misleading, if Trump hadn't referred to walking to the Capitol only 35 seconds *after* talking about fighting.
I’ve been re-reading *The Beetle* for lecturing purposes, and am wondering if Terry Nation had read Richard Marsh?
November 9, 2025 at 9:22 PM
I’ve been re-reading *The Beetle* for lecturing purposes, and am wondering if Terry Nation had read Richard Marsh?
It’s been a while since I saw a good social media juxtaposition, but this one is nicely subtle.
November 6, 2025 at 10:02 PM
It’s been a while since I saw a good social media juxtaposition, but this one is nicely subtle.
Wait, is this the same BBC News that has spent the last six or so months saying that Farage is the likely winner in 2029?
![Screenshot of a BBC News report on US elections saying “Of course, much could change before those [midterm] 2026 elections”.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:igsuzmzz5ac2pfwpvz4bsscx/bafkreif6baoz5aewryh2kxegy6gtbjalqab4pexvvsarc6szxvfvmfudfe@jpeg)
November 5, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Wait, is this the same BBC News that has spent the last six or so months saying that Farage is the likely winner in 2029?
Once again the clearance trolley at the Waterstone’s on Trafalgar Square is providing bargains.
November 5, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Once again the clearance trolley at the Waterstone’s on Trafalgar Square is providing bargains.
A great day at #AHTV today, on getting humanities research on television. Nice to meet up with Amber Regis again (pictured here talking about her Brontes documentary).
November 5, 2025 at 9:33 PM
A great day at #AHTV today, on getting humanities research on television. Nice to meet up with Amber Regis again (pictured here talking about her Brontes documentary).
Three years since the spooky herbs at Dorchester Waitrose.
October 31, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Three years since the spooky herbs at Dorchester Waitrose.
About two thirds of the way through Anne Michaels’ *Held*, and the near universal praise has me a bit baffled. The prose is very highly polished, of course, but to the extent that it feels like a demonstration of artistry rather than addressing something beyond the novel itself.
October 26, 2025 at 11:44 AM
About two thirds of the way through Anne Michaels’ *Held*, and the near universal praise has me a bit baffled. The prose is very highly polished, of course, but to the extent that it feels like a demonstration of artistry rather than addressing something beyond the novel itself.
Do they want to offer him a job?
October 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Do they want to offer him a job?
I see that Windows 11 weather has gone insane.
October 23, 2025 at 10:28 PM
I see that Windows 11 weather has gone insane.
I was giving a public lecture on Agatha Christie in Hampstead today, and on the way back to Waterloo decided to pop Into Waterstone’s, where I found the bargain of the year on a clearance trolley.
October 20, 2025 at 9:14 PM
I was giving a public lecture on Agatha Christie in Hampstead today, and on the way back to Waterloo decided to pop Into Waterstone’s, where I found the bargain of the year on a clearance trolley.
In other Southsea signage news, the long defunct fish and chip shop on Castle Road is no longer Uncle Buck’s. I don’t think it’s been open since I moved to Portsmouth, but it’s the principle.
October 12, 2025 at 1:29 PM
In other Southsea signage news, the long defunct fish and chip shop on Castle Road is no longer Uncle Buck’s. I don’t think it’s been open since I moved to Portsmouth, but it’s the principle.
WHSmith in Southsea has finally fallen. Are there any high street WHS left?
October 12, 2025 at 1:23 PM
WHSmith in Southsea has finally fallen. Are there any high street WHS left?
I see that jokily unhelpful LRB bio notes are back. If Julian Barnes can take the time to explain who he is, so can you.
October 5, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I see that jokily unhelpful LRB bio notes are back. If Julian Barnes can take the time to explain who he is, so can you.
Reading a literary criticism/literary sociology book which includes diagrams with free floating categories, and to be honest it reminds me a bit of this.
October 5, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reading a literary criticism/literary sociology book which includes diagrams with free floating categories, and to be honest it reminds me a bit of this.
Still working through a stack of LRBs, and have just read this sentence from 5 June. Who on Earth looks at the US in 2025 and thinks “you know what the problem is? Secularism.”
October 1, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Still working through a stack of LRBs, and have just read this sentence from 5 June. Who on Earth looks at the US in 2025 and thinks “you know what the problem is? Secularism.”
The book has titled chapters, so naturally this is how ProQuest Ebook Central has divided it. Much EdTech.
September 29, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The book has titled chapters, so naturally this is how ProQuest Ebook Central has divided it. Much EdTech.
Trying to look at a book on ProQuest Ebook Central, and this is how it's being presented. Zooming in just makes the mess bigger. How is this usable?
September 29, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Trying to look at a book on ProQuest Ebook Central, and this is how it's being presented. Zooming in just makes the mess bigger. How is this usable?