Dalrymple has a new book available on Amazon. These Spindrift Pages is a collection of thoughts inspired by his recent reading. The material that serves as his inspiration, both prose and poetry, is as varied and profound as you might expect and, naturally, so are his observations. He discusses writers that run the gamut from the very popular to the very obscure, and addresses all kinds of topics, from murder and charlatanism to beauty and compassion.
The title comes from a beautiful Dylan Thomas poem that Dalrymple quotes in the preface. I had to look this up, but spindrift is the sea spray that is blown off the tops of cresting waves, and the title conjures in my mind images of a writer capturing his thoughts as they drift off into a mist.
To purchase the book, check your friendly, local Amazon page. It is available here to US readers and here to those in the UK.
This book is like listening in on the thoughts of one of the world’s most interesting and lucid thinkers, who also happens to be almost unbelievably well-read. Not many writers can pull this off, because there is no grand unifying subject or theme here — it’s just you, Dalyrymple, his books, and whatever happens to pop into his head as he meanders through them. For a lesser writer, this would be an invitation to disaster. In Dalyrymple’s hands, the result is a pure delight. He has a rare gift.