Details

Nigerian Taribo West’s pair of stubby, knotted, fluorescent braids drew much more attention than his football at the 2002 World Cup.

Why read Because it’s an immortal classic full of sun, sand, swords, and sex— perhaps why Burton bowdlerised it.

Liz Taylor connection? No, this is the 19th century Brit explorer/duellist/writer.

Don’t look for Simplistic heart-warming Disney tales; the story-within-story tome is violent, morally ambiguous.

Do look for The woman with a five-compartment cupboard where she stores lovers. Should give Draupadi a complex.

The half-Kashmiri writer has a new novel out, Transmission, on Bollywood, identity etc... What lies beneath?

A. Born 1969, educated at Oxford, worked as DJ, TV presenter, writer for Wired magazine.

B. Got a £1.25 million advance for first novel The Impressionist.

C. Was scheduled to fly out of America on Sept 11, ’01: The atmosphere in the US then influenced Transmission.

D. Refused the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize as it was sponsored by the anti-immigrant tabloid, The Mail on Sunday.

E. Used to work as a juggler peddling non-alcoholic energy drinks outside British bars.

Answer C. He was to fly out on Sept 12, but the mood hadn’t changed.

Peak Music Power Output. A measure of amplifier power. Sneered at by engineers, as it overstates the real continuous power of your stereo many times over. Hence much loved by advertising (eg. 4800W!!) claims, which are essentially unverifiable.