I’ve had a long and passionate love affair with bookstores since I can remember. Some of my finest hours have been spent perusing shelves to…
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London is one of the most inspiring cities for me as a writer so I visit it as often as I am able in order to glean inspiration for literary adventures.
Moving through the London literary scene during the fin de siècle was not a comfortable ride. Oscar Wilde is one of the most explosive examples but others who navigated those restrictive streets and who cloistered themselves in the gentleman’s clubs learned what a dicey trip rebellion can be. The lot of them, known as aesthetes and decadents, frequently show up in literature written during the era. In The Cantos of Ezra Pound, for instance, the poet quotes a conversation he had with Aubrey Beardsley, the caveat “beauty is difficult” showing up a number of times in his Pisan Cantos.
I’d be hard-pressed to find a more subjective phrase than this one, an idiom that often pops into my mind as I cover design events and product introductions during which hundreds of manufacturers and tastemakers hope to make their mark on the industry. But my task when I’m in London is generally hours spent tracking down the homes of some of my favorite British writers, including Horace Walpole and Mr. Wilde. My home-base is the Chelsea Arts Club, an affiliate of The National Arts Club, my club in NYC. The location in Chelsea provides me with easy access to many of the parts of London where my literary heroes moved around when they were alive.
You can read about all of my literary adventures in London by clicking on the tag. I hope you enjoy reading about my jaunts as much as I enjoyed writing about them.
Leigh Hunt Avid Decorator
This essay about the decorating exploits of Leigh Hunt is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the…
View More Leigh Hunt Avid DecoratorA Decadently Yellow London
This essay channeling the Decadents and Aesthetes in London when it was decadently yellow is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34…
View More A Decadently Yellow LondonOttoline Morrell Gets Lit
This essay exploring the literary world of Ottoline Morrell is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…
View More Ottoline Morrell Gets LitThe Nature of Noble Loyalty
It’s spring in London and the flowers are bursting forth on Cheyne Walk, which skirts the edge of the River Thames until it gives way…
View More The Nature of Noble LoyaltyThe Sensuous Delight of Place
Like Katherine Mansfield’s enigmatic stories, the book Place by Tara Bernerd feels like “a thread with a subtly woven texture embracing ecstatic feeling, sensuous delight.” The…
View More The Sensuous Delight of PlaceThe Built Legacy of Henry VIII
The 2016 Academy Awards are handed out this coming Sunday so I’m celebrating a film that showcases the built legacy of Henry VIII to delve back into…
View More The Built Legacy of Henry VIIII Met Virginia Woolf in This Room
Who else is relieved that Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, is finally finding happiness on Downton Abbey? Having binged on all of the…
View More I Met Virginia Woolf in This RoomRenovating During the Tudor Era
Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Looking back to the Tudor Era from this great distance, it’s easy to see how barbaric a sport jousting was.…
View More Renovating During the Tudor EraNarratives That Illuminate Design
Narratives That Illuminate Design If you believe that design-centric coffee table books contain nothing more than visual surveys of portfolios, I am out to change…
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