Daniel Marc Janes

The curse of distraction: Lesser Ruins, by Mark Haber, reviewed

A former college professor prepares to write his long-gestated book on Montaigne, but finds his mind wandering from 1970s nudism to Balzac’s coffee dependency

Mark Haber, photographed in Houston, Texas, in 2022. [Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle/ Getty Images]
  • Comments

  • Lesser Ruins

    Mark Haber

    Coffee House Press, pp. 296, £12

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Get a free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label when you subscribe to The Spectator for just £12 in our Black Friday sale

  • Free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky, worth £30
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Rod Liddle

I hope you didn’t sign that petition

From the magazine
Did you sign it, then? And if so, what were your expectations? That Sir Keir Starmer would look at the figures and say – perhaps with a tinge of remorse – ‘Yup, that’s it, I’m bang to rights, we’ll have an election?’. Or were you simply hoping to annoy him? If so, I assume you

More on art

Also by Daniel Marc Janes

Latest

Comments

Black Friday sale: Get 10 weeks for just $1

Unlimited access to the The Spectator, online and via the app

Already a subscriber? Log in