Peter Reavy’s blog

Will Self advises Salman Rushdie about accepting knighthoods, quoted in the Guardian:

Given the furore that The Satanic Verses occasioned, it does strike me that any responsible writer might ask himself whether the fallout from accepting such an honour was really worth the bauble … it is surely better that writers decline any form of honour.

Clever words, eh? Rushdie should scorn baubles, like Will Self would.

But when bullies gather, clever Will Self won’t stick up for a fellow writer.

The best way I can describe it is as follows: if you went into a Dubai furniture store 15 years ago, you would see a large amount of very heavy, ornate, white laqured furniture, with carved flowers and other vegetal motifs, which were painted some pastel color. Often, these furniture pieces would also feature a built-in cassette player. Imagine taking the types of people who would buy something like that, and give them lots of money and building permits. Dubai is the result.

from winterspeak.com.

Background on the UAE here.