http://standpointmag.co.uk/taxonomy/term/92 The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://standpointmag.co.uk/books-january-february-12-clives-indian-summer-david-barrett-clive-james-a-point-of-view <p><b>Author:</b>David Barrett</p><p style="text-align: justify"> <br />His masterly voice: Clive James at work </p><p style="text-align: justify">On YouTube there's a clip of Clive James and Robert Hughes being interviewed for Australian television in 1959. The programme is about Beat culture and James reads from Jack Kerouac's On the Road. When he's finished the presenter asks him: &quot;Well, what do you think of it? What do you think of the formless prose?&quot; James taps a pen on the page and replies: &quot;It's overrated.&quot; That was half a century ago, and half a world away. And while I suspect James's criticism of Kerouac's prose hasn't changed — time has proven it to be pretty solid — the man who once practised lighting cigarettes with his head tilted to look like Albert Camus certainly has.</p><p><a href="http://standpointmag.co.uk/books-january-february-12-clives-indian-summer-david-barrett-clive-james-a-point-of-view"><span>read more</span></a></p> http://standpointmag.co.uk/books-january-february-12-clives-indian-summer-david-barrett-clive-james-a-point-of-view#comments Books BBC Radio 4 Clive James Literature Media Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:39:39 +0000 Frances Weaver 4271 at http://standpointmag.co.uk