Andy Charman

@andyandz

Author of Crow Court. published by @unbounders.bsky.social. Longlist Desmond Elliott 2021. Shortlist CWA Historical 2022. Laureat Festival du Premier Roman 2022. Researching 1983 and philosophers in WWII. Assistant Editor of Thin-Skin.com

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Andy Charman@andyandz· Jul 8

Our American readers are going to wonder what's hit their feeds, but I don't care. I cannot say how much I hope the Bin Wins!!

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jun 6

Enjoying the views from Amsterdam’s amazing library! Thanks for the recommendation @dilyswt.bsky.social ! Wonderfully writerly end to a @saloneurope.bsky.social weekend!

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 27

Positively soft and cuddly by Gwendoline Riley's usual standards, THE PALM HOUSE contains one of the finest swipes of irony in contemporary literature. "This was the year we got our composter." Wonderful book by a brilliant author. #books #amreading #fiction

The cover of Gwendoline Riley's 2026 novel, THE PALM HOUSE.

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 26

What are you writing about? It’s going to be a while until my current obsession comes to light, but these two (on the neuroscience of memory and the origins of the universe) are core reading! Looking forward to these new arrivals! #books #amwriting #amreading

The covers of two books: First Light by Emma Chapman and Pieces of Light by Charles Fernyhough. Origins of the universe and the nature of memory respectively.

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 14

I read it as part of a sequence starting with Hegel’s World Revolutions, the The Invention of Marxism, the *excellent* Revolutionary Ideas and The End of The Enlightenment. Now feel as smug as the kid who ate all the pies.

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 12

Bought this 2 years ago and have been reading since February. What a fabulously rewarding, extraordinary piece of work it is! The writing is so elegant I often read passages out loud to enjoy them better. Christopher Clark's 'Revolutionary Spring' #books #amreading

The Cover of Christopher Clark's book, Revolutionary Spring: Fighting for a New World 1848-1849, showing the daguerrotype of barricades in the Rue Saint-Maur, in the Popincourt quarter of Paris in 1848.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Mar 7

Yay Amsterdam! I'll take any excuse to re-visit Amsterdam, but an EWS pop-up, books, writers... that just tops the bill. Can't wait!

Image shows the sun-kissed front of an Amsterdam bar called Van Puffelen.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jan 12

This monstrous beauty. It is an academic work of art.

The Cover art of 'Revolutionary Ideas' by Jonathan Israel.
It shows a form of coat of arms, two tricolour flags, in front of a fascis which is partly obscured by a garland of oak leaves in which is written, 'An Intellectual history of the French Revolution from The Rights of Man to Robespierre'

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jan 8

Very happy publication day @laurarichmond.bsky.social! It seems like yesterday since we first talked about your memoir. I’m so proud to have been some way involved in such a good book. And well done @wiltonsquare.bsky.social for such quick, high quality production!

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jan 4

Gamble365! Stake YOUR income against a computer!

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jan 2

Hey, @laurarichmond.bsky.social, Royal Mail tells me a book is waiting for me at home! Wonder what it could be?!

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jul 31

He can have the house, I’m half packed.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jul 31

Was hoping for a bath this evening, but looks like I'll just have to move house instead.

A very large spider has taken up residence in my bath. Very Large.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jul 20

Just finished this from @kitdewaal.com and still feeling the impact of a wonderfully emotional redemptive ending.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jun 27

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 13

I'm excited to have received this from Wiley Books, 'Marseille 1940' by @uwewittstock.bsky.social Looking forward to reading this soon!

PIcture of a book, Marseille 1940 (The Flight of Literature) by Uwe Wittstock, showing the cover image of the waterfront of Marseille.

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 5

Happy Birthday, Karl. I am smack dab in the middle of this one, which is a corker (apols Verso, not one of yours, but I'm sure you understand).

Karl Marx by Isaiah Berlin. Karl Marx's birthday!

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 3

If you see this, post your getaway vehicle.

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 3

Sage advice as always. Turkeys and canaries and how to avoid killing the messenger.

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 3

I've often wondered the same. 'Gossip' makes an appearance in William Barnes's 19th C Glossary of Dorset Dialect and the meaning is very different (and without a hint of judgement).

GOSSIP
Is still used about Wimborne for a godfather, or godmother. Godcib (gossip) in A.S. meant a good kinsman, or kinswoman, and in lower meaning a good friend, but we now use Gossip for the talk of the good friends, instead of themselves.

Andy Charman@andyandz· May 3

open.substack.com/pub/emmadarw...? Sage advice from @emmadarwinwriter.bsky.social as always: on Canaries and Turkeys and how avoid killing the messenger.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Apr 6

Just starting this. Surprisingly excited about it.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Mar 24

I started re-working the current draft of this current WIP in September 2023. If I stick to the program, I *might* be finished in June this year. #TuckeredOut

As a witty allegorical illustration, I have chosen a detail from the painting 'Remnants of an Army' by Elizabeth Thompson. It depicts William Brydon, assistant surgeon in the Bengal Army, arriving at the gates of Jalalabad in January 1842. Brydon was a survivor of the very ill-advised attack on Kabul by British Imperialist forces and he is shown looking completely exhausted riding an equally tuckered-out horse.
It's a perfect illustration to depict how you feel when you have taken on something too big and you're nearing the end.

Andy Charman@andyandz· Mar 20

You certainly are not alone in being upset by it. It is frustrating and distressing. My own work is heavily laced with Dorset dialect which sincerely hope screws with their dumbass 'training'

Andy Charman@andyandz· Mar 2

How's this for a damning description? Daniel Maier-Katkin on Berthold Brecht: "A Marxist with a Swiss bank account."

Cover of Daniel Maier-Kakin's "Stranger From Abroad" showing the faces of Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jan 28

“Freedom to philosophise usually came under threat where mass opinion opinion governed the state…” So said Kant in Richard Bourke’s excellent ‘Hegel’s World Revolutions’

Andy Charman@andyandz· Jan 9

Andy Charman@andyandz· Dec 8

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 12/20 #books #booksky #bookschallenge

How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Eve Cat Bohannon

Andy Charman@andyandz· Dec 5

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 11/20 #Booksky #Books #Bookschallenge

Joseph Campbell Primitive Mythology The Masks of God

Andy Charman@andyandz· Dec 3

Why that would be Joseph Campbell. I still listen to his PBS interviews with Bill Moyers because he had such wisdom and such soul. @laurarichmond.bsky.social who’s your literary guardian angel?