NB by J. C‪.‬

NB by J. C., a collection of James Campbell’s best columns from the TLS, is a guide to the literary pleasures and absurdities of the past two decades.



For over twenty years, James Campbell wrote the popular NB column on the back page of The Times Literary Supplement, signing it “J. C.” The initials were not intended as a disguise, but to provide freedom to the persona. “J. C.” was irreverent, whimsical, occasionally severe. The column had a low tolerance for the literary sins of pomposity, hypocrisy, and cant. It took aim at contemporary absurdities resulting from identity politics or from academic jargon. Readers of NB by J. C. will find not only an off-beat guide to our cultural times, but entries from The TLS Reviewer’s Handbook, which offered regular advice on the cultivation of a good writing style. “Above all, aspire to the Three E’s: elegance, eloquence, and entertainment.” 


The Introduction offers a history of the TLS from its beginnings through its precarious stages of adaptation and survival.