REVIEW: John Grisham and Ian Rankin, Edinburgh International Book Festival *****

Introduced by Jenny Niven, 25th August 2026

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is fortunate that characters like Ian Rankin have its back, and here he was surely partly instrumental in setting up this McEwan Hall event. Even by international crime-writing standards, John Grisham is a megastar, primarily known as author of The Firm, countless other legal thrillers, as well as more than a few other fiction and non-fiction works. This time – although it almost seemed incidental – he was promoting his latest novel The Widow.

Rankin is a brilliant interviewer. Rather than turning it into a question-and-answer show, he engages in a conversation with his fellow writer, comparing notes in a way that allows the audience far greater insights into his guest’s life and work. He began by asking Grisham about his early life mainly in the Deep South – and deeply conservative – state of Arkansas. Although growing up in a poor family, he somehow managed to train both as an accountant and a lawyer, and he practised as the latter for ten years before giving up after The Firm to focus full-time on writing. I didn’t know he’s also served as an Arkansas State politician for eight years before becoming disillusioned with politics around the same time as the books took off.

Then the event moved on to a comparison of writing techniques and approaches, Rankin’s slighlty fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to plotting versus Grisham’s highly planned. There was a lot of interesting chat about modern-day reading habits and how writers should cater for them. I found that fascinating.

Brought up in a Baptist family, Grisham clearly likes his characters, especially his heroes, to be struggling with moral dilemmas and much of his work away from writing in the past couple of decades has involved attempting to rectify the hundreds of gross miscarriages of justice that take place in the USA every year. It’s a theme in many of his novels, too.

The EIBF broadcast this event live to eight public libraries across Scotland, and it’s more than possible that the website will eventually make it available for catchup, too. Highly recommended.

Till the next time,

Gordon

REVIEW: Raise Your Voice, Edinburgh International Book Festival ****

Astrid Jorgensen and Lauren Elkin in conversation. Chaired by Sinéad Gleeson, 23rd August 2026

This Book Festival event was billed as an audience participation event and it definitely lived up to that. But it was a slightly odd mix of two writers talking about their work. American Lauren Elkin grew up wanting to be a professional singer, attended music college but ultimately realised she wasn’t quite good enough. Her book, Vocal Break, dealt with her difficulties, particularly those faced by women in the field. Australian Astrid Jorgensen is the founder of Pub Choir, the community singing movement based (surprisingly!) in pubs; her book Average at Best is her memoir. A former music teacher, she had no aim to be outstanding, but she enjoys singing and wants others to as well.

There was quite a contrast between the two personalities. Elkin is a quiet, measured woman who describes herself as neurodivergent, and both her book and her contribution was relatively serious. Jorgensen came over as bubbly and irrepressible: a smile was never far from her lips and she was just plain funny. Their respective readings reflected that, too. Elkin’s was a reflective piece, while Jorgensen’s had the audience laughing. Nevertheless, there was clear chemistry between the two speakers, as if each understood how to give the other space.

I felt Elkin was a little too keen to single out men as a problem to be overcome. She told a story of how ‘the boys at the back of the class’ would snigger at a girl’s attempt to sing, presenting music as a gender issue. I doubt that it is. My wife and I both experienced that as well, and we were each at single-sex schools. A theme I’ve noticed more than once at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival has been that several women speakers have sought to over-generalise gender stereotypes. Any male attempt to counter that view simply invites further accusations of male dominance. Elkin also implied that good singing required proper musical training, which just seemed like snobbery. At any rate, her contribution docked this otherwise outstanding event one star.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the ninety-minute event was Jorgensen’s leading the audience in a two-part harmony rendition of Cindy Lauper’s hit Time After Time. It worked – the audience, including, for this part, both Elkin and Gleeson took their place in the audience. The result was, frankly, both bonkers and hugely enjoyable, Astrid Jorgensen operating like a runaway train.

The event was chaired by Dublin writer Sinéad Gleeson, who was excellent, well-prepared and careful to allow both speakers to feel involved.

Till the next time,

Gordon

REVIEW: Professor Sir John Curtice, Edinburgh International Book Festival *****

Chaired by Jenny Niven, 24th August 2026

John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde, is a national treasure, but a very, very clever one. Unquestionably Britain’s psephologist-in-chief, when Curtice speaks, politicians – and all connected – listen. At election time, the BBC grabs him as their primary analyst of the results, and he seems capable of reading the tea-leaves like no other. When others dismissed Brexit’s chances in the 2016 Referendum, it was he who identified the real possibility that Leave would win. It’s by no means been his only coup.

I’ve heard John Curtice many times. When I was a Modern Studies teacher when he was slightly less famous, and he was a great friend to students across Scotland, giving clear, spellbinding lectures that allowed students – and teachers like me – to walk off with fantastic sets of notes. Ask John Curtice to give a talk on any aspect of politics to any audience and he’ll oblige, brilliantly. (For schools, he did it for free.)

Here, he was choosing his own topic, the future of Britain’s Conservative-Labour two-party system. (Party-wise, Northern Ireland does its own thing.) Notionally, Edinburgh International Book Festival Director Jenny Niven introduced him, but in reality Curtice is like a wind-up toy: turn the key, press the switch, and off he goes. He’s one of those incredibly enthusiastic speakers whose slightly unkempt appearance somehow makes him seem all the more approachable. It’s definitely part of his charm.

Audience members really have to concentrate, though. He doesn’t half pack in lots of graphs, tables masses and analysis. At times I was struggling to keep up, despite being familiar with much of the material. For instance, there were moments when I wondered if the keys on a couple of his graphs were the wrong way round, but there wasn’t the time to work it out before he’d moved on to the next Powerpoint slide. But it was worth it. You get your money’s worth from a Curtice lecture because he packs so much in.

I’m not quite sure what his conclusion about the two-party system was, although undoubtedly Brexit has definitely created a new dimension in UK politics, but he identified others, too: age, social values and education levels. But I got the impression that he didn’t know for sure whether the 2029 General Election would see off the two-party system for good.

There are always questions at events like these. The final question this time was the exact one I’d have asked myself: if Nigel Farage were to be removed from the political scene, would Reform still present a threat to the two-party system? Is it a one-man band? Sadly, Curtice answered a slightly different question, saying how important all leaders are in communicating their party’s message. Ah well. Nobody’s perfect.

Till the next time,

Gordon

Letter from Edinburgh: Charles Tyrwhitt

Slightly unusual this time – it’s almost an advert.

Dear Don,

I’m all but certain that you’ve never heard of Charles Tyrwhitt. It’s a quintessentially English (as opposed to Scottish) clothing firm founded in 1986 by Nicholas Charles Tyrwhitt Wheeler while he was a student at Bristol University. During an early telephone call to the firm’s Customer Services department I was informed that the pronunciation is “‘Tyrwhitt’ as in ‘spirit’.”

Wheeler’s bright idea was to sell shirts by mail order. Tyrwhitt shirts were initially aimed at the office market, to be worn with ties (which the firm also sold), although gradually the firm expanded into other shirt styles to move with changing fashion. Today, the firm sells large numbers of casual shirts, as well as trousers, jackets, suits, coats, shoes, socks, underwear and all manner of accessories. These days I buy all my golf polo shirts there: nowadays, they’re even discreetly embroidered with little swift logos, which obviously presses my birdwatcher buttons.

In time, the firm opened high street stores, at first in London’s Jermyn Street, traditional heart of tailors, but then gradually around the rest of the UK. I gather that makes the firm ‘multi-channel’, a new word I’ve just discovered today. The staff in Edinburgh’s George Street store greet me by name as I walk through the door, and conversations with Steven and James seem like with familiar friends. Customer service is important, especially as the firm’s online service has understandably become a little less personal in time.

Nick Wheeler must be able to pull strings. Recently, the firm’s advertising has managed to get well-known faces to model its clothing, as can be seen is the current promotional video.

As well as the odd TV personality, there are a fair few cricket and rugby stars here (I said it was ‘quintessentially English’, remember). I’m pretty sure former Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his shirts all came from Charles Tyrwhitt – he was trying to contrast himself with his own predecessor Rishi Sunak, a wealthy Armani wearer. (Andy Burnham might wear a tee-shirt under his jacket to accentuate his working-class image, but the jacket cost him £700.)

Key to Charles Tyrwhitt’s success (sometimes known as ‘CT’) is that its clothing is of good quality but not overpriced. As you know, I’m just over 6’5″ tall which, as I’ve written before, brings its own challenges. It’s genuinely difficult to find clothing that I don’t feel embarrassed to be seen wearing, at least not without spending a fortune. There are firms that specialise in clothing monsters like me, but they expect me to wear things that you could fit two people into. There’s a firm in Aberdeen that could clothe basketball players, but it’s all hoodies and jeans. I’m too old for that stuff. The US firm Lands End used to be my go-to mail order firm but gradually they’ve cut back on extra-tall sizes ‘for business reasons’. Large waist sizes continue to be available, though. (Note: I can’t help being tall.) Thankfully, CT has plugged the gap in recent years.

Years ago, when I was a teacher, I allowed three girls in one of my Modern Studies classes gradually to give me a makeover. The girls weren’t high-flyers, so it was nice to be able let them feel a bit more valued. From time to time I would take the Charles Tyrwhitt catalogue into work, and they’d pore over it to choose a couple of shirts and ties for me to order by post. I think they were really surprised to see me turn up ten days later wearing what they’d suggested. To be fair, they had decent taste. I said nothing – I just waited to see how long it would take them to notice, and then to watch as it slowly dawned on them that their teacher really did value their opinion. I’d imagine it was a new experience, but it was nice for me, too.

Nick Wheeler was at Eton College at the same time as Boris Johnson, he’s made it known that he votes Conservative and supported Brexit in 2016, so nobody’s perfect. The firm’s brief abortive venture into women’s shirts was a sharp reminder that it pays to stick to what you know best. But men’s clothing is a highly competitive market, and whereas other outlets have gone by the wayside, Charles Tyrwhitt is thriving, “as in driving”. Long may it continue to do so.

Till the next time,

Gordon