Sam Byers
@sambyers.bsky.social
Author of Idiopathy, Perfidious Albion, and Come Join Our Disease
If you only read think pieces about contemporary British literary fiction and didn’t actually read any contemporary British literary fiction you’d likely conclude that Sally Rooney is the only person to have published any novels in the last decade.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the Booker prize winner: putting masculinity back at the centre of literary fiction | Editorial
Editorial: David Szalay’s Flesh breaks from a decade of female-centred interiors and reopens a genre many thought closed to men
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:08 AM
If you only read think pieces about contemporary British literary fiction and didn’t actually read any contemporary British literary fiction you’d likely conclude that Sally Rooney is the only person to have published any novels in the last decade.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Hidden behind a piano, only actually visible for fleeting moments when he stood up to assure everyone he was there, but sounding wonderful, playing a beautiful, bluesy set ending with Every Grain of Sand. Fantastic.
November 14, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Hidden behind a piano, only actually visible for fleeting moments when he stood up to assure everyone he was there, but sounding wonderful, playing a beautiful, bluesy set ending with Every Grain of Sand. Fantastic.
For The Guardian, I reviewed The Silver Book, the latest novel by Olivia Laing.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
The Silver Book by Olivia Laing review – a thin line of beauty
The world of 1970s Italian cinema is the glossy backdrop for an elegantly wrought but shallow novel
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:55 AM
For The Guardian, I reviewed The Silver Book, the latest novel by Olivia Laing.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
This is so unspeakably grim and depressing. Immensely sad to think of the long shadow this era of grand scale cultural and empathetic failure will cast.
My daughter, 11, came home from school shaken after a gang of unidentified boys of about 13 started insulting her and two friends, culminating with a chant of 'Fuck the genders, fuck the Jews'.
I think it's fair to say that we have a problem.
I think it's fair to say that we have a problem.
November 12, 2025 at 5:46 PM
This is so unspeakably grim and depressing. Immensely sad to think of the long shadow this era of grand scale cultural and empathetic failure will cast.
Wonderful BBC archive clip about black magic in Norfolk in 1964 - soot-blackened sheep’s hearts, weird effigies, and isolated fenland villages.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWTw...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWTw...
1964: A Curious Case of Black Magic in Norfolk | Tonight | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive
YouTube video by BBC Archive
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Wonderful BBC archive clip about black magic in Norfolk in 1964 - soot-blackened sheep’s hearts, weird effigies, and isolated fenland villages.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWTw...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWTw...
Mesmerising, deeply moving stuff this.
November 9, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Mesmerising, deeply moving stuff this.
“It’s obvious that artistic movements need artists. My claim is that they also need critics.”
Very good essay on the decline of criticism and its cultural impact.
asteriskmag.substack.com/p/is-the-int...
Very good essay on the decline of criticism and its cultural impact.
asteriskmag.substack.com/p/is-the-int...
Is the Internet Making Culture Worse?
The decline of criticism might explain the sense that our culture is stagnating. How can we bring it back?
asteriskmag.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:55 AM
“It’s obvious that artistic movements need artists. My claim is that they also need critics.”
Very good essay on the decline of criticism and its cultural impact.
asteriskmag.substack.com/p/is-the-int...
Very good essay on the decline of criticism and its cultural impact.
asteriskmag.substack.com/p/is-the-int...
Settle down for 40 minutes and listen to the extraordinary voice of Ustad Naseeruddin Saami, the only living master of the 49 note scale, along with some glorious qawwali from his sons, the Saami Brothers. Magical stuff.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEAJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEAJ...
Ustad Naseeruddin Saami & The Saami Brothers - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
YouTube video by KEXP
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Settle down for 40 minutes and listen to the extraordinary voice of Ustad Naseeruddin Saami, the only living master of the 49 note scale, along with some glorious qawwali from his sons, the Saami Brothers. Magical stuff.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEAJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEAJ...
November 4, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I propose we bookmark these comments and then return to them in a couple of years to see how they, and the commercial decisions that underpin them, hold up.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
AI can help authors beat writer’s block, says Bloomsbury chief
Publisher last week reported jump in revenue in academic and professional arm thanks to AI licensing deal
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I propose we bookmark these comments and then return to them in a couple of years to see how they, and the commercial decisions that underpin them, hold up.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings at the London Palladium last night maybe one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. Musicianship that bordered on the eerie. Rawlings’ guitar playing just a ceaseless flow of invention. Audience were in raptures.
October 27, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings at the London Palladium last night maybe one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. Musicianship that bordered on the eerie. Rawlings’ guitar playing just a ceaseless flow of invention. Audience were in raptures.
Close but it’s actually Ginkgo.
October 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Close but it’s actually Ginkgo.
The number of children homeless in England is the highest since records began.
england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_...
england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_...
Number of children homeless in England the highest since records began - Shelter England
Number of children homeless in England the highest since records began
england.shelter.org.uk
October 22, 2025 at 9:15 AM
The number of children homeless in England is the highest since records began.
england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_...
england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_...
Extraordinarily beautiful, mesmerising, fine-spun performance of one of Eliane Radigue’s earliest (pre-synthesiser) works. After this, in 1964, she would not return to acoustic composition until 2011.
rhodridavies.bandcamp.com/album/asympt...
rhodridavies.bandcamp.com/album/asympt...
ASYMPTOTE VERSATILE (1963-64), by Éliane Radigue
1 track album
rhodridavies.bandcamp.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Extraordinarily beautiful, mesmerising, fine-spun performance of one of Eliane Radigue’s earliest (pre-synthesiser) works. After this, in 1964, she would not return to acoustic composition until 2011.
rhodridavies.bandcamp.com/album/asympt...
rhodridavies.bandcamp.com/album/asympt...
PSA: you can now search the database to see if your work is included in the Anthropic settlement.
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:37 AM
PSA: you can now search the database to see if your work is included in the Anthropic settlement.
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
“The murky swirling of the end of a world perceived through the end of a life filled him with dismal reveries on which he brooded in a state of bearable affliction, even contentment.”
In awe of this furious, incandescent, teeming novel of revolution, violence, and decay.
In awe of this furious, incandescent, teeming novel of revolution, violence, and decay.
October 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
“The murky swirling of the end of a world perceived through the end of a life filled him with dismal reveries on which he brooded in a state of bearable affliction, even contentment.”
In awe of this furious, incandescent, teeming novel of revolution, violence, and decay.
In awe of this furious, incandescent, teeming novel of revolution, violence, and decay.
Reposted by Sam Byers
I am not religious, but when people's places of worship are attacked, as when their homes, schools, libraries, etc are attacked it is an attempt to destroy the connections between us. That is what antisemitic violence aims to do.
October 3, 2025 at 7:40 AM
I am not religious, but when people's places of worship are attacked, as when their homes, schools, libraries, etc are attacked it is an attempt to destroy the connections between us. That is what antisemitic violence aims to do.
Reposted by Sam Byers
Thousands of Londoners have indefinite leave to remain.
They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city.
Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.
They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city.
Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.
Farage vows to scrap indefinite leave to remain, placing thousands at risk of deportation
Reform UK plans to force non-citizens to apply for visas with high salary thresholds and no access to NHS services
www.theguardian.com
September 22, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Thousands of Londoners have indefinite leave to remain.
They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city.
Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.
They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city.
Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.
This unconscionable, truly cruel and terrifying proposal is the work of a man who feels, in my view correctly, that there is nobody really standing in his way.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Farage vows to scrap indefinite leave to remain, placing thousands at risk of deportation
Reform UK plans to force non-citizens to apply for visas with high salary thresholds and no access to NHS services
www.theguardian.com
September 22, 2025 at 9:53 AM
This unconscionable, truly cruel and terrifying proposal is the work of a man who feels, in my view correctly, that there is nobody really standing in his way.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Been a while since I read him. What a pleasure to be reminded again of his extraordinary talent for evocative detail, his caring attention to lives lived in the shadows of history, that mysterious, sly sleight of hand he brings to all his work. A master.
September 17, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Been a while since I read him. What a pleasure to be reminded again of his extraordinary talent for evocative detail, his caring attention to lives lived in the shadows of history, that mysterious, sly sleight of hand he brings to all his work. A master.
“If you want to understand what England will look like with a Reform government, just come to our town. Racists and thugs are acting with impunity, intimidating local residents and people of colour, who are living in fear.
This is England 2025.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This is England 2025.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A racist mob menacing refugee children and our town. Read this and see what lies ahead, unless we act now | Anonymous
Last weekend, it fell to ordinary people to oppose the far right and others. The national toxicity has reached us: a kind of hate I haven’t seen since the 1970s
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:35 PM
“If you want to understand what England will look like with a Reform government, just come to our town. Racists and thugs are acting with impunity, intimidating local residents and people of colour, who are living in fear.
This is England 2025.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This is England 2025.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I love this novel. Powys is long overdue for the proper classics treatment. Really hope Penguin do others too.
Good to see Penguin Classics reprinted John Cowper Powys's mammoth novel, A Glastonbury Romance, next year!
August 29, 2025 at 12:58 PM
I love this novel. Powys is long overdue for the proper classics treatment. Really hope Penguin do others too.
Increasingly convinced that there is no-one else experiencing, interrogating, and finding new forms to convey reality in the way that Rachel Cusk now does routinely. It’s as if every moment of existence is being minutely and sometimes painfully dissected. Genuinely remarkable writing.
‘M and I both secretly felt that it was the ways in which we had been damaged that had given us our power.’
Loved this. But Parade haters should move along. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Loved this. But Parade haters should move along. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
August 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Increasingly convinced that there is no-one else experiencing, interrogating, and finding new forms to convey reality in the way that Rachel Cusk now does routinely. It’s as if every moment of existence is being minutely and sometimes painfully dissected. Genuinely remarkable writing.