Touching bottom

As to soft-sided reading material here's all that remains: 2 issues of Granta, one of which has been started. Return to Akenfield has been read and the author even interviews Blythe. Akenfield was a present to REH and got passed around to everybody. Apparently it has remained in print all these years since 1969. We've found the articles on the college-enrollment and -aid game and the tale of the slot machines worth handing on (Atlantic Monthly). What I Heard About Iraq in 2005 (Eliot Weinberger) is disheartening (LRB); Alan Bennett's diary is, as always, fun and perceptive.