PoetryLeave a comment

Justina

Paul Ferry

It was summer in the back end of nowhere, There were horses and houses all around, She pulled on her sneakers and was running, Just as soon as her feet hit the ground. Pretty soon, she had a job in a book store, Loading Dickens and Tolstoy on the shelf, She discovered the works of Jack Kerouac, But she never discovered herself. Then she met Spring Bob by the duck pond, He was small, but he carried a big sack, Full of blankets and pillows for the hostel on the green, And the collected works of Honoré de Balzac. He … Continue reading Justina

Doctor WhoLeave a comment

‘Doctor Who – Scratchman’ by Tom Baker

Paul Ferry

Tom Baker may well be the greatest author our country never had. His autobiography, Who on Earth is Tom Baker? was quite unlike any other book before or since; reading it was a bit like having Tom tell you his life story over the bar of the Dog and Duck, pint in hand, slightly sozzled. It was a masterpiece. He followed this up with The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, a children’s book… probably. No-one knew quite what to make of it, but I loved it. It ended up in the bargain bins very quickly, which just goes to show how … Continue reading ‘Doctor Who – Scratchman’ by Tom Baker

Film & TVLeave a comment

Strings in the Wind: Growing Up with Supermarionation in the 70s and 80s

Paul Ferry

Throughout the 1960s, Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation ruled the television for a generation of children. The high-class puppetry technique produced such evergreen shows as Stingray, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and, of course, the immortal Thunderbirds. But although the rocket boosters … Continue reading Strings in the Wind: Growing Up with Supermarionation in the 70s and 80s

ReviewsLeave a comment

10 Out-of-Print Books Your Kids Should Be Reading

Paul Ferry

There are lots of great new books available for kids today; some of them, unbelievably, weren’t even written by celebrities! You can also get delightful reprints and facsimiles of children’s classics from the golden age of literature. But somewhere in between, mostly (but not exclusively) dating from the 60s, 70s and 80s, is a vast library of forgotten books for children; destined to lie mouldering and unloved on the shelves of charity shops and the cluttered tabletops of jumble sales. What follows is my pick of the lost chapters in the book of children’s literature. Many of these books I … Continue reading 10 Out-of-Print Books Your Kids Should Be Reading

Reviews2 Comments

Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds – The Musical Drama

Paul Ferry

Hybrids were a signigicant part of Victorian carnivals: Mermaids and Jackalopes – cryptozoological creations stitched together from the preserved remains of very different beasts. The air of the Victorian carnival has always pervaded Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds, from its florid font to its sense of melodramatic spectacle, so it’s entirely fitting that the latest addition to Jeff Wayne’s canon is something of a hybrid itself. If you go into this expecting a musical extravaganza like the album, you will be disappointed and similarly, if you go into this expecting a straight reading of H.G. … Continue reading Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds – The Musical Drama