The SLMan Culture List: November
NOVEL: Silverview by John Le Carré
The final work of the late John le Carré, Silverview sees the master fiction writer opening up the world of Julian Lawndsley. A couple of months after quitting his City job for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small East Anglian seaside town, Julian’s evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian’s family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise. When a letter then turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning of a dangerous leak, an investigation leads to Julian’s quiet town by the sea.
Visit Waterstones.com
TV: The Beatles: Get Back
Three-time Oscar winner Peter Jackson is at the helm of this new docuseries, which zooms in on some 1969 recording sessions that turned out to be a pivotal moment in music history. The Beatles: Get Back showcases the band’s creative process as they attempt to write 14 new songs in preparation for their first live concert in over two years – faced with a nearly impossible deadline, the quartet’s strong bonds of friendship are put to the test. The series has been compiled from nearly 60 hours of unseen footage shot over 21 days, and draws from more than 150 hours of unheard audio, most of which has been locked in a vault for over half a century. Dropping on Disney+ on 25th November, this one’s a must for music fans.
Visit DisneyPlus.com
DOCUMENTARY: Arsène Wenger: Invincible
Finding Jack Charlton, Bobby Robson: More than a Manager, Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans – the makers of this documentary about Arsène Wenger specialise in revealing profiles of great men. Shot on location in England, France and Wenger’s home village of Duttlenheim, this film is framed against the backdrop of Arsenal’s historic 2003-04 season – when they became the first and only team to go undefeated through an entire Premier League campaign. Watch Wenger reflect on his revolutionary era at Arsenal, and eventually the personal turmoil that surrounded his departure from the club after 22 years. For diehard Gunners, the first chance to see it will be in cinemas from 11th November, before a DVD release on the 22nd.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
SPORT: Autumn Nations Series
We’ve got one eye on England in cricket’s T20 World Cup right now, but the return of international rugby also looms large this month. The big game this weekend sees Wales host New Zealand in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon. Eddie Jones’s new-look England enter the fray on Saturday 6th November when Tonga come to Twickenham. But the biggest challenges for Owen Farrell et al will come later: against Australia (13th November) and – in a rerun of the 2019 World Cup final – South Africa (20th November). Tickets are already scarce for the two mega-clashes, but you can catch all three England matches live on Amazon Prime.
Visit EnglandRugby.com
UNSPLASH / JAMES COLEMAN
AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Tenement Kid by Bobby Gillespie
Tenement Kid is Bobby Gillespie's life story up to the recording and release of Screamadelica, the album that has been credited with ‘starting the 90s’. As lead singer of Primal Scream, Gillespie was a prime mover in one of the most innovative British bands of the era, shaping a new psychedelic movement at Alan McGee’s legendary Creation Records before joining forces with genius producer Andrew Weatherall to create an epoch-defining LP. Tenement Kid is filled with the joy and wonder of a rock ’n’ roll artist who radically reshaped the sound of British music.
Visit Waterstones.com
RESTAURANT: Le Petit Beefbar
This November, Le Petit Beefbar will open its first UK site on Cale Street in Chelsea. Created in Monaco by restaurateur Riccardo Giraudi, Beefbar’s menus deliver French flair with a luxury twist: think steak frites, XL wagyu ribeye, double cheeseburgers, tonkatsu Milanese and miso black beef. We love the sound of some all-new sharing dishes – particularly the ‘Croque Sando’ (a croque monsieur with dry aged beef ribeye prosciutto, mozzarella and the restaurant’s in-house sauce) and the Kobe beef shawarma.
Visit Beefbar.com
EVENT: Bowie 75
As part of celebrations marking what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday, his estate has opened two experiential pop-up shops – one in London, the other in New York. The UK outlet is at 14 Heddon Street, the exact spot that features on the cover of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Inside, visitors can take a career-spanning deep dive into the sound and vision of Bowie – look out for audio and HD video screening rooms, and an immersive music experience using Sony’s spatial sound technologies.
Visit Bowie75.com
EXHIBITION: Amazônia at Science Museum
At the Science Museum, acclaimed Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado is exhibiting Amazônia – a celebration of the indigenous peoples and varied landscapes of the Brazilian rainforest. For seven years, Salgado worked with a dozen indigenous communities to create this magnificent photography project. The result is more than 200 powerful black-and-white photographs that reveal Salgado’s vision of the Amazon as it approaches a tipping point in the fight against climate change.
Visit ScienceMuseum.org.uk
COFFEE-TABLE BOOK: The Men’s Fashion Book
This handsome new tome introduces readers to the individuals and brands that have produced and inspired the most memorable looks in menswear. Overseen by Jacob Gallagher (men’s fashion editor at the Wall Street Journal) it documents more than two centuries of men’s fashion, bringing this rich history to life with iconic images of everything from traditional suits to contemporary streetwear. In an A-Z format, its 500 entries spotlight legends such as Giorgio Armani and Paul Smith alongside some of today’s most innovative creatives (think Alessandro Michele and Virgil Abloh) and cutting-edge brands such as Bode, Sacai and Supreme.
Visit Waterstones.com
ALBUM: I Don’t Live Here Anymore by The War on Drugs
I Don’t Live Here Anymore is The War On Drugs’ first studio album in four years. Out on 29th October on Atlantic Records, the throwback rock band’s fifth LP wrestling a fractured past into a unified present. If it’s as good as lead single ‘Living Proof’ promises, it will confirm the Philadelphia seven piece’s place in the pantheon alongside Springsteen, Petty and Dire Straits.
Visit Spotify.com
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