Batchman

The wonderful Benedict led a dozen or so other notables (including Toby Jones and Ardl O’Hanlon) in a live reading of letters (by turns tragic, funny and thought provoking) in a Ukraine benefit gig. The rude letters of GB Shaw and Erik Satie were particularly outrageous.

Excellent penultimate day. Sat within a few feet of Elif Shafak whilst having breakfast and then saw her talking later about her most recent novel The Island of Missing Trees. Then had an excellent session with Tina Brown, royal author, being interviewed by Simon Schama. Some very honest discussions about the various royals and the inner workings of the palace machine. 

Schama had a busy day as he also interviewed David Baddiel in the evening about his book Jews Don’t Count. Good but a bit uneven. Ended up with Schama telling a joke about a Jew walking into a pub with a parrot on his shoulder. You had to be there as they say.

Lots of time in between book shopping, chilling on the sofa of The Electric with coffee and cake, and eating more tapas at Tomasino. But Cumberbatch and friends was the best.

Great day.