Terence Blacker
The writer and broadcaster Terence Blacker contributes a twice-weekly column on a wide range of social, cultural and environmental issues. He is the author of four novels, of prize-winning fiction for children, and has written a highly praised biography of the brilliant reprobate Willie Donaldson.
Terence Blacker: Don't try to be funny with me
There is, I am almost sure, a funny world out there. Prince Charles, Ann "Dancing Queen" Widdecombe, Katie Price, Huw Edwards, Wayne Rooney's vice-girls, the Speaker of the House of Commons: no one could seriously deny that the raw material for a great carnival of comedy is to be found every day in our public life. Yet increasingly we seem to live in post-humorous society in which nothing is funny, particularly if it is meant to be funny. Those who argue that, in a brutal world spiralling ever downwards to perdition, jokes are inappropriate seem to be winning the battle.
Recently by Terence Blacker
Terence Blacker: Me-time won't save you now
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
We live in an age which is so self-absorbed as to make previous generations look virtuous
Terence Blacker: How to be the perfect gentleman
Friday, 1 October 2010
These are confusing times for the English gentleman. Everything in his background has told him that manners are what help define him, but in this sharp-elbowed, aggressively egalitarian world, he has discovered that old-fashioned niceness is no longer quite enough.
Terence Blacker: Must love be all around?
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
When Al and Tipper Gore snogged on a public platform, divorce lawyers started licking their lips.
Terence Blacker: Stephen Fry and the art of inauthenticity
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Clearly, the creation of a public version of the self is more than mere marketing; it is a method of survival
Terence Blacker: The danger in attacking Mr Brock
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
The government will quickly find itself in deep difficulty with a sentimental, animal-loving electorate
Terence Blacker: Standing up for bad language
Friday, 17 September 2010
The much-loved author Alexander McCall Smith is concerned about moral pollution. He believes that swearing blights society, representing "casual aggression" and, under certain circumstances, "a form of sexual intrusion".
Terence Blacker: Spare a thought for Rooney
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Infidelity is almost always about something more than mere randiness, especially when the offender is famous
Terence Blacker: The quiet dignity of Mr Franzen
Friday, 10 September 2010
The famous novelist is making his promotional video. Shortly, his face will be on the front of Time magazine, his book praised to the heavens and at No 1 in the American bestseller list. "This might be a good place to register my profound discomfort at having to make a video like this," he says, looking indeed profoundly discomfited. The internet is fine for commerce, but "to me, the point of a novel is to take you to a still place".
Terence Blacker: Is this really a journey to fulfilment?
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Gilbert has not only found wisdom but has made millions in the process
Terence Blacker: Hague has merely prolonged the agony
Friday, 3 September 2010
It has taken a non-scandal to reveal the extent to which gossip and cruelty now influence our politics. Normally when a story breaks about the private life of a politician – Prescott and the secretary, Oaten and the rent-boy, Laws and the tenant – there is a spasm of public excitement, followed by some sort of resolution.
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Columnist Comments
• Mary Ann Sieghart: The perils of giving in to pester power
If you reward those who shout loudest, the cacophony will become unbearable
• Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Party conferences same as usual
But I love attending for the intelligent discussions at small, intense events
• Philip Hensher: Human rights, in the Chinese sense
It was an undeniably bad week for the Chinese government.