A hatful of facts about…Clive James

1.) Clive James has returned to TV criticism. He was poached out of retirement by the Telegraph who proudly billed their latest catch as the ‘world’s greatest TV critic’. It sees him resume where his groundbreaking Observer column, written between 1972-82, left off. Widely cited as turning TV criticism into serious art, James collected his weekly musings into three volumes of TV criticism: Visions Before Midnight, The Crystal Bucket and Glued to the Box. A compendium volume, On Television, was published in 1990. All are available here.
 
2.) James is a man of many genres. He has published verse (most recently Opal Sunset: Selected Poems 1958-2008), four novels, five autobiographies and numerous collections of essays (including the magnum opus, Cultural Amnesia). His forthcoming volume, A Point of View, collects the produce of his stints in front of the Radio 4 mike. Meanwhile, his TV series, Talking in the Library, has notched up five series with guests including Martin Amis, Stephen Fry, Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson.