Who now remembers such star hacks as D Sefton Delmer, Rene Maccoll or Ed Murrow? John Crosby’s cringe-making piece on Swinging London is a mysterious inclusion. On the plus side, there is a dazzling example of Clive James’s TV criticism, while Ian Jack’s portrait of Scouse rag-pickers is keen-eyed and perceptive. Martha Gellhorn’s account of a lynching in Mississippi still brings shivers: “I saw a huge tree … it stood by itself and had a curious air of usefulness.”Will You Please Be Quiet, Please by Raymond Carver (Vintage, £6.99, 181pp)The prose equivalent of Edward Hopper’s faintly ominous paintings, Raymond Carver’s short stories often concern people at moments of domestic crisis. A father discards, then tearfully retrieves, his dog, but then the dog discards him. In a letter, a woman expresses profound unease about her son, a successful politician: “I should be the proudest mother in all the land but I am only afraid.” A writer is assailed with story ideas, concerning his own misbehaviour, by the owner of a house he hired: “It doesn’t need Tolstoy.” First published in 1975, these stories resonate long after you’ve read them.Samuel Pepys: The unequalled self by Claire Tomalin (Penguin, £8.99, 499pp)After buttonholing the reader with a prologue describing a ferocious domestic between Pepys and his misused wife, Tomalin never lets go. Her book is superbly researched and a masterly display of storytelling.

Though he is great company, Pepys emerges as an unscrupulous self-seeker. His seduction of a rival’s daughter “was a matter of power and humiliation of his enemy rather than attraction”. Puzzled by his own flaws, the ambitious Pepys emerges as a distinctly modern type. Great value, Tomalin’s enthralling masterpiece is the perfect holiday read.Blue Note Records by Richard Cook (Pimlico, £10, 276pp)Blue Note is a jazz label so hip that there is even a book devoted to its cover art. Though Cook tells the story well, he faces a problem in that many of Blue Note’s top stars – Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk – did their best work away from the label. Coltrane was almost never there at all because the office cat jumped out of a window when he was about to sign a contract. Nevertheless, Blue Note displayed an unparalleled gift for discovering new talent and Cook’s lively account of works by Jimmy Smith, Horace Silver, Art Blakey and other greats will have jazz buffs reaching for their credit cards.The Art of the Siesta by Thierry Paquot, trans.

Ken Hollings (Marion Boyars, £8.95, 91pp)This slender pamphlet considers snoozing in art, mythological zizzes, the assault on naps by capitalist timetables, the importance of slow living (“well being in patience”) and rouses itself with a clarion cry for the individualisation of time: “Brothers and sisters! Seize the siesta.” Paquot’s daydream of a book stutters to a close with a series of reflections: “I remember so many siestas about which I have nothing to say.” This rich, distinctly French essay is just the ticket to while away a sultry afternoon, and its author won’t feel remotely distressed if you happen to nod off.. Destination of the week: New Zealand and Australia, in the southern spring

Destination of the week: New Zealand and Australia, in the southern spring
“It’s a mini-low season,” says Arran Sutherland of Quest Travel (0870 442 3516, ). “Airlines flying to Australia have dropped their fares in September by hundreds of pounds, to fill seats in the lull before the Rugby World Cup begins in October.” Malaysia Airlines is selling September flights from Heathrow or Manchester to Perth for £595; to Adelaide, Brisbane or Melbourne for £639; to Sydney for £645; and to Auckland for a very reasonable £609. Book by the end of July.Phone penalty of the week: £10Luddites heading for the sun with easyJet (0870 600 0000, ) who book by phone rather than through the internet will henceforth pay an extra £10 for each return flight This is twice the previous surcharge imposed by easyJet The airline has just put its winter timetable on sale.

It has also enhanced its website so that passengers can now access details of their booking direct.Bargain of the week: travel via Leeds to the sun in AugustOne more reason to get online: the Leeds/Bradford based airline, Jet2 (0870 737 82 82, ), has installed a natty “Low fare finder” on its website that allows you to spot the cheap seats to destinations across a whole month. Search in August, and you should find Amsterdam as cheap as £77 return, Bergamo (near Milan) for £87 and Barcelona for £127.Warning of the week: Thai terror?”We believe that there is currently an increased risk of terrorist activity in Thailand,” the Foreign Office warned this week. “Places frequented by Westerners are particularly vulnerable to terrorist attack.”The Government says British nationals should “exercise good security practice in all public places and tourist resorts, particularly large resorts favoured by Westerners, and in airports, on public transport and in night clubs, bars, restaurants and places of worship”.. What’s the airline industry’s definition of a child?

What’s the airline industry’s definition of a child?
That depends. There’s no set rule about how old a passenger has to be before they can travel on their own, but British Airways is fairly typical of traditional airlines: anyone 12 or older, who anyway has to pay the adult fare, may fly solo. No-frills airlines – and the Government, when it’s taxing passengers – deem anyone over two years old be an adult, but they usually impose a minimum age for solo travellers; for easyJet it is 14, for Ryanair 12.Below this age, children can often be sent as “unaccompanied minors”, a service for which British Airways is renowned – but for which it is also increasing fees from 1 August A nominated adult delivers the child to the airport. The child is looked after by the airline to the final destination, when he or she is collected by another nominated adult.If you try this system in America – where tens of thousands of children fly each weekend from one estranged parent to another – make sure the person who you entrust to meet the child is reliable.