August 31 . . .

is the date of the next issue of the TLS, in case you were wondering. Last week's TLS, that is, was a "double issue", and there won't be a new one out this Friday. People do sometimes get confused about this . . . .

(You can, however, now read a fresh selection of pieces from last week's issue online, including Maria Golia's round-up of books about the Arab Spring, Carol Birch's appraisal of the not-so-dead British short story and Michael Anderson's review of a memoir by the "Cinderella Gentleman" himself, Harry Belafonte.)