License to Write
Acclaimed British novelist William Boyd has the impossible task of conjuring up a new Bond novel with Solo, but can his effort match up to Ian Fleming’s creation? Robert McCrum wonders.
Robert McCrum is an associate editor of the Observer and the author of Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language.
Portnoy Exits
Despair not at Philip Roth’s exit from writing, says Robert McCrum, for like Shakespeare he is stopping at just the right and sensible moment.
No, it's not about who the author really is, but as Robert McCrum writes it's the storied history of anonymous authors—and the perils of playing with fame.