"When I first heard the sound of 2-step UK garage coming from London on a trip to the UK in the mid-’90s, I could not wrap my head around it. How could people be dancing to something so disorienting? But then the genre invaded the charts, and there’s no better example to my mind than this perfect piece of pop futurism. It’s till a staple in my DJ sets"

"Despite the fact that I have two nonfiction works on my list, I almost exclusively read fiction, but Erik Larson has long been one of my favorites. If you’ve read his others, you don’t need me to tell you what a great historian he is. If you haven’t, The Splendid and the Vile captures Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz like no other book I’ve ever read. Enjoy."

"I had heard about this book for many years before I read it. Ostensibly it is the autobiography of a former alcoholic who chronicles his struggles living rough on the streets of London in a vivid and unique style, but it is more than that. It is the story of determination and rebirth, the tale of a chess champion who overcomes a savage childhood to live again. A powerful book indeed."

"I’m known for “extending the truth”—my stories tend not to be limited by what actually happened but by what can sound the best! So I empathize here with Billy. A young man interested in raising his class level in the 1960s, he tells anyone who wants to hear that he is going to London “to be an actor.” His story becomes more and more transparent and tragic. Great movie."

"I always read this book again just to experience the delight of my first reading. I fell madly in love with everything in that book, the two main characters, Mary and Moses, and Africa not only described but conveyed through the writing. A true writer makes a continent come to life. I met Doris Lessing once in London while I was performing, in English, a Friedrich Schiller play."