Slightly Foxed Issue 74: ‘Voices from the Riverbank’

by Gail Pirkis (Editor), Hazel Wood (Editor)

The independent-minded quarterly that combines good looks, good writing and a personal approach. Slightly Foxed introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal. Good-humoured, unpretentious and a bit eccentric, it’s more like a well-read friend than a literary magazine.

Olivia Potts masters the art of French cooking with Julia Child • Justin Marozzi
heads for the Hindu Kush • Grant McIntyre gathers herbs at Copsford • Sue Gee goes boating with Mole and Ratty • Rachel Cooke witnesses Alison Lurie’s war between the Tates • Robert van Gulik’s Judge Dee takes Ken Haigh to court • Hazel Wood visits Candleford with Flora Thompson • William Palmer follows Norman Lewis to Spain • Alexandra Harris picks up a Pevsner, and much more besides . . .

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2022

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This issue begins with Wind in the Willows and ends with Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons finale They Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea. Hard to beat that.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

SF 74 keeps up the usual high standard with its lucky dip approach to great books that could so easily have slipped beneath the radar. This edition featured a couple of books that have been languishing on my bookshelves for some time but hitherto unread (The War Between the Tates and The Great Game: despite the best efforts of Rachel Cooke in her article on Alison Lurie’s novel of academic American adultery I didn’t take to it, but at least that’s created space for something else in its place. The Great Game has moved up my must read list; hopefully I’ll get to it soon). I was also delighted to read an excellent article by Grant McIntyre on Walter J. C. Murray’s Copsford, a strange, compelling account of a year living in a derelict cottage which I read a year or so ago, and which deserves to be much better known.

[Mike Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just finished Issue 74, I think that I started this excellent series about 10 issues ago and once again wonder whether I should buy issues 1 through 63, but again will probably defer until next month. Issue 74 reviews The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk which I read some time ago, in general this covers conflicts in Aghanistan and district in the 19th century between Russia and Great Britain. Politically not a lot has changed except there are new participants, and technology, GPS has replaced the real or fake holy men who measured distances by counting steps on their prayer wheels, tweaking the counting when going up or down hill to compensate for stride length. If caught punishment was often brutal. So I recommend Slightly Foxed and The Great Game.

[Gerard de Bruin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fijne bespreking van Rechter Tie (Judge Dee). Alison Lurie moet ik nu echt gaan lezen. Dit is alweer de derde bespreking van een van haar boeken.
Het verraderlijke is dat SF ook uitgever en boekhandelaar is en je dus ernstig in de verleiding wordt gebracht hun fraaie kleine uitgaves aan te schaffen. Zo kocht ik onlangs Hilary Mantels kleine autobiografie Giving up the Ghosts. Zowel een prachtig boek als een prachtige uitgave ('beautifully produced little hand-numbered pocket hardback'). Tja dat wil iedereen wel hebben.

[Noits · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always flip closed the back cover of this beautiful quarterly with a sigh of contentment. I always open its front with a resolve to savour its contents in a leisurely manner - and yet persist in romping through each chapter without pausing for breath. It’s just the ideal read when you’re hurtling through the final weeks of a chaotic and hectic academic year, and need to press pause. And I still have 67.5 back issues to enjoy!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through these essays as an end-of-summer treat. I was especially intrigued by the one about Chinese detective fiction, something I'd never heard about, and of course I love The Wind in the Willows.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another sublime issue of this quarterly. Beautiful writing about fascinating books- what more could I want?

[Marie-Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific miscellany, where the enthusiasm and wit of the contributors is matched by the quality of their recommendations.

[Dayna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful magazine!