My hero by Simon Callow
'Having experienced the lower depths, he never ceased to commit himself to trying to right the wrongs inflicted by society'You start with the work, of course. In my case The Pickwick Papers, thrust into my hands at the age of 13. It danced before my ey...
An Oliver Twist for our times
Could you create a cover for a new edition of Oliver Twist? As we launch a competition, Simon Callow reflects on why Dickens's novel still talks to us today• See here for full terms and conditionsThe success of a book like Oliver Twist – both in it...
My favourite Dickens
By Simon CallowMonthly serial, April 1838-October 1839Dickens started writing Nicholas Nickleby only a year after Pickwick, as part of that astonishing trio of novels (of which the middle one was Oliver Twist) that he knocked off in a breathless 18 mon...
Arthur Miller: 1962-2005 by Christopher Bigsby – review
The second half of Arthur Miller's life story leaves some important questions unansweredIf not quite Boswell to Arthur Miller's Johnson, Christopher Bigsby knows more about his subject than anyone alive. He has followed the great dramatist at close q...
Sex Before the Sexual Revolution by Simon Szreter and Kate Fisher
Simon Callow explores life behind closed doors before the pillThe title of Simon Szreter and Kate Fisher's new book is a little misleading – its brief is quite specific, focusing as it does on the experience of marriage among the working and mid...
Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim's profound attention to his craft is the key to his genius. By Simon Callow. A preview from tomorrow's Guardian Review. Also in tomorrow's Guardian Review, a very personal piece by Jonathan Franzen on writing The Corrections, Sarah Chu...
The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry
Simon Callow revels in a warm and finely crafted work, but longs to glimpse the real man beneath itEach section of this cunningly constructed causerie of a second autobiographical volume is headed with a word or words starting with the letter C. One wo...
Sean Connery by Christopher Bray
This biography of Sean Connery by an adoring fan just misses the mark, says Simon CallowRegardless of what you may think of his acting, Sean Connery has been a highly prominent figure in the celluloid landscape of the past 40 years in two particular ma...
Shakespeare’s best history plays
Aristos snorting coke in nightclubs, Fergie touting her connections, Blackwater's Iraq escapade ... all have their parallels in the Henry IV plays – Shakespeare's most complete works, argues Jonathan Bate
An occupational hazard for the Shakespeare scholar is that one's lectures at literary festivals and in schools are nearly...
Heroes and Exiles: Gay Icons Through the Ages by Tom Ambrose | Book review
Simon Callow searches for facts among the fantasies
The National Portrait Gallery's recent exhibition Gay Icons was somewhat baffling – Nelson Mandela a gay icon? The manager of Elton John's football club? Tom Ambrose's subtitle for his new book – Gay Icons Through the Ages – seems to share...
