Putin’s Third Term

Posted by Nick Taussig on Feb 16, 2012 in Blog, Human Interest, Russia, The Distinguished Assassin | 0 comments

It appears that Putin will be President once more, despite the protestations of the Russian people who cry not only foul play but also that they’ve had enough of Vladimir Vladimirovich – the leader who refuses to relinquish power in the vein of the many despots before him. Democracy in Russia is nothing but a façade, an illusion. Men such as Putin, former KGB apparatchiks, have little concern for the will of people – what they want and need. Rather such men, former nomenklatura, care only for the state, the Russian state, which they...

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God and Melanie Phillips will cure ‘sick’ Britain!

Posted by Nick Taussig on Aug 13, 2011 in Blog, Featured_home, Human Interest, The Paradoxical | 0 comments

David Cameron, returning from his holiday in Tuscany earlier this week, declared a “fightback” against the rioters in England, vowing he’d do “whatever it takes” to restore order to the streets after four days of rioting and looting. He had to respond decisively – for there were significant questions over his leadership after he seemed more concerned with his choice of tennis coach than the state of the nation – and so he cast himself in the manner of Churchill, the brave and wise leader confronting...

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A decadent and murderous underclass!

Posted by Nick Taussig on Aug 7, 2011 in Blog, Featured_home, Human Interest, The Paradoxical | 7 comments

A Mail on Sunday poll this week reveals that “more than half of Britons want a return of the death penalty,” and this prompts me to reflect on a recent prison visit I made, in order to read from, and discuss, one of my novels – a meditation on life and death. As I sat and discussed the themes of the work with a group of inmates, the majority of them lifers, it dawned on me that there was more truth here, in this prison library, than there was on the outside – beyond these cells, bars, walls and perimeter fences –...

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The state of modern fiction

Posted by Nick Taussig on Jul 29, 2011 in Avant-garde, Blog, Featured_home, Literature, On Writing, The Paradoxical, Uncategorized | 13 comments

What the fuck is going on with modern fiction?! I’m dying to read that wonderful book, which has a bloody big heart, yet I cannot find it. Gifted writers I greatly admire like William Boyd are now forced to churn out books like Restless, an all-too-familiar spy thriller that will be forgotten in no time, written for a pay check and no more. I can hear William’s agent whispering in his ear, “Look, just give me something I can get on Richard & Judy, okay. The friggin chimps in Brazzaville Beach aren’t cutting it. The...

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Storytails

Posted by Nick Taussig on Jul 24, 2011 in Blog, Events | 0 comments

Nick will be reading an extract from his novel, Love and Mayhem, at Storytails on Sunday 26th June 2011. Storytails is a free event featuring readings of short fictional stories from some professional, and some not-quite-so professional writers. Storytails is held on the last Sunday of every month from 3pm at The Drop, beneath The Three Crowns pub on the corner of Stoke Newington Church St, London N16 0LH. The aim of the event is to give those who enjoy writing short stories the opportunity to share original tales in a relaxed and friendly...

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School Visit with Close Encounters, Film Club UK

Posted by Nick Taussig on Jul 24, 2011 in Blog, Events | 0 comments

Nick will be visiting Isambard Community School in Swindon on 23rd June 2011 as part of the Close Encounters programme with Film Club UK. http://www.filmclub.org/close-encounters

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School Visit with Close Encounters, Film Club UK

Posted by Nick Taussig on Jul 24, 2011 in Blog, Events | 0 comments

Nick will be visiting Wilsthorpe Community College in Nottingham on 21st June 2011 as part of the Close Encounters programme with Film Club UK. http://www.filmclub.org/close-encounters

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Literary Death Match

Posted by Nick Taussig on Jul 20, 2011 in Blog, Events | 0 comments

Nick will be reading from his novel, Don Don, at Literary Death Match on Wednesday 17th August 2011: http://www.literarydeathmatch.com/

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Society Today – Britain’s Foreign Bosses

Posted by Nick Taussig on Jul 3, 2011 in Human Interest, Non-Fiction | 0 comments

Society Today, Vol. 1, No.3, Summer 2006 With a new world order where money is placed above all else, British corporations are increasingly looking beyond the Great Isle – to the international market of talented executives – in order to recruit the best person to drive up share prices and maximise profits: the candidate’s professional competence and business acumen is judged to be far more important than whether or not he or she is native-born, a British citizen. A quarter of the FTSE 100 companies have foreigners at the helm, from...

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Society Today – Why Are They Begging?

Posted by Nick Taussig on Jul 3, 2011 in Homelessness, Human Interest, Non-Fiction, The Paradoxical | 0 comments

Society Today, Vol. 1, No. 2, November/December 2005 This is the question on our lips when we walk past a man or woman huddled in the doorway of a shop front like some desperate animal, wrapped in a dirty blanket clinging to it for warmth, hiding a face smeared with grime and shame, and clutching a polystyrene cup with a few coppers in it. In one sense we are bloody foolish to even ask the question. Shelter is like food and sex – we need it – and if we don’t have it, then we’ll look for ways to get it. Let us be frank but the...

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