Lucky: What happened when I decided to throw away money
What follows is a true story. It seems so bizarre to me, even now, that I find it hard to reconcile with myself. Was that really me? Surely I didn’t do anything quite this crazy? But it was. And I did. Though whether it was really crazy or not, you’ll have to judge for…
Premiere: Official preview clip from ‘The Notorious Mr Bout’
There’s a great documentary feature film on arms smuggler Viktor Bout at Sundance 2014 this week. I’m part of it, but don’t let that put you off – it’s by the team who made the award-winning Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer last year. There’s more detail below, but in the meantime, here’s the…
1,217 words for absence
Lena is a close friend. She’s been my friend for more than 20 years now, so I’m lucky. She’s a beautiful, playful, kind, lovably geeky girl/woman – from Uganda by way of North London’s Jubilee line Big Yellow Storage hinterlands, then Gloucestershire, Cambridge and the Big Smoke. We were flatmates for years – the…
DOWNLOAD: Cool fabricator: The strange and beautiful case of Tom Kummer
In the course of researching my new book on resignations, I’ve been wading through a lot of parting shots from journalists. Well, they have the public forum. Most of us pass through our careers without leaving a trace. We speak as representatives. We curtail our language. We stick to the script. This makes workplaces…
News: New book, ‘Parting Shots’ out June 2013
I can finally share some details on the next book. ‘Parting Shots’ is going to be the secret history of our times and society, as revealed through resignations. And I’d like your recommendations! Mostly, we’re talking Rebekah Brookses and Thatcher cabinet ministers, but I’d love to quote some unknown examples, too – and…
News: Catch Matt performing in the Literary Death Match at London’s Stoke Newington Literary Festival, June 2nd!
I’ll be facing off against some of Britain’s best writers and comedians in the 26th Literary Death Match at London’s hipsterest literary festival this June. If you’ve not yet had the pleasure of sampling Outlaws Inc., or enjoyed it but suspect what it might be missing is a live, onstage setting in which its…
Comment: The best writer I know
While I was in New York, running around promoting the book and doing things I thought were all terribly important, something else happened. Jetlagged and excited, I sat on a step outside a Starbucks close to 5th Avenue to check my emails. There was a cheery, round-robin, letting-you-know email from a good friend…
Check out the Daily Q&A
I’ve added a new section to this site: the Daily Q&A.