John Lanchester
John Lanchester is a contributing editor at the LRB. His most recent book is Reality and Other Stories.
Letter
Mischaracterisation
21 January 2016
I don’t understand why the editors published Natalie Smith’s letter saying that I ‘should be more careful in lumping together sugar, fat and salt as the cause of the decline in public health’ (Letters, 3 March). I invite readers to look at the piece I wrote, where it’s perfectly clear I did no such thing (LRB, 21 January). What I said, and what I think, is that the culprit for the current...
Letter
It’s Finished
28 May 2009
John Lanchester writes: It may be relevant that my forthcoming book about the credit crunch is called Whoops.
Letter
Planet Wal-Mart
22 June 2006
John Lanchester writes: I entirely agree with Paul Seabright’s last paragraph. It would be absurd to say that ‘Wal-Mart and companies like it are the root of world poverty.’ I’m not clear what the connection with my piece is, though, since I don’t think that and didn’t say it.If Seabright knows a practical way in which we can help the rural poor of the developing world, I would be eager...
Letter
Google: An Update
26 January 2006
Since the last issue went to press with my piece on Google in it (LRB, 26 January) there have been a couple of big stories about the company. The second piece of news was the less surprising: it was the announcement that Google is to start a search service in China, with servers based locally, and that it will co-operate with Chinese government censorship in the process. This means that it will block...
Podcasts & Videos
Podcast
The Omicron Wave
John Lanchester, Rupert Beale and Thomas Jones
14 December 2021
John Lanchester and Rupert Beale talk to Tom about the spread of the latest variant, where we might stand in the story of Covid, and the failures of the state in coping with the pandemic.
Podcast
Running, Diving, Bleeding
John Lanchester and Thomas Jones
27 July 2021
John Lanchester talks to Thomas Jones about ‘visible’ cheating in sport, that is, the kind which is against the rules but within the ethos of the game, from diving in football to bodyline bowling in...
Podcast
The Long Way Round
John Lanchester and Thomas Jones
13 April 2021
John Lanchester talks to Thomas Jones about his experience of being on a cargo ship blocked from entering the Suez Canal in 1967, his subsequent journey round the Cape of Good Hope, and the modern-day...
Video
25 March 2021
Patricia Lockwood talks to John Lanchester about her debut novel No One is Talking About This.
Podcast
Maigret Returns
John Lanchester and Thomas Jones
2 June 2020
John Lanchester talks to Thomas Jones about the author of the Maigret stories, whose output was so prodigious that even he didn't know how many books he wrote.
Video
14 October 2020
John Lanchester discusses his chilling collection of short stories, which explores the uncanniness of modern life through demonic phones, haunted selfie-sticks and other technology gone horribly wrong.
Podcast
Brexit Blues
John Lanchester
27 July 2016
John Lanchester reads his piece on the implications of the UK’s EU referendum.
Video
The LRB at 40
Mary-Kay Wilmers, Alan Bennett, Andrew O’Hagan, John Lanchester, Yun Sheng and Nicholas Spice
11 October 2019
We look back at 40 years of the LRB in our anniversary event at Conway Hall.
Podcast
John Lanchester
David Runciman, Helen Thompson and John Lanchester
13 April 2017
David and Helen talk to John Lanchester about banks, money and power. Why have so few bankers gone to jail since the financial crisis? Can the Euro survive? Should we be more frightened of unaccountable...
Podcast
Story: ‘Coffin Liquor’
John Lanchester
4 January 2018
Toby Jones reads John Lanchester’s ghost story.
Video
18 August 2016
George Monbiot and John Lanchester discuss Monbiot’s latest book, How Did We Get Into This Mess?, and assess the state we’re in now. The event was recorded at the London Review Bookshop on 7 July...
Video
Bitcoin and the Nature of Money
John Lanchester
21 April 2016
John Lanchester explains what bitcoin is, and what it tells us about money.
Pieces about John Lanchester in the LRB
Hong Pong: John Lanchester
Thomas Jones, 25 July 2002
First, let me declare a disinterest. John Lanchester and I are both involved, in different ways, with the London Review of Books, but otherwise have nothing to do with one another. Now...
On the Run: John Lanchester
Adam Phillips, 2 March 2000
The name is ordinary, so the book announces itself as a book about no one special; though, of course, when men without qualities become the subjects of novels a certain gravity (if not grace) is...
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