What I’m reading #72

Nick Cohen on the racism of the respectable, expanding on this report from the BBC. Money quote:

Britain made female genital mutilation a criminal offence in the 1980s. Later we said it was illegal for parents to take their children abroad for the ‘procedure’. Yet although thousands of British girls are the victims of wounding with intent, the CPS has not instigated one prosecution, let alone secured a conviction.

It is a harrowing read – the description of how FGM is practised is horrific.  

Matt Nolan complains that Rob Hosking goes too far.

Facebook cruelty.

A guide to the music of Pierre Boulez.

A.D. Miller, author of Snowdrops, talks about London novels, some of them by Martin Amis.

The madness of my brother-in-law.

What would a mole of moles look like?

In the July Uncut Dr John (not online) remembers Jimi Hendrix this way:

I liked him. I first knew Jimi when he was playing in Little Richard’s band. Jimi was real special to the guitar like John Coltrane was to the saxophone. Certain people will take an instrument further, and will open the door for people to go through and go different directions.

He wasn’t an easy person to know – I got to know him more because girls that sang back-up for me made vests and clothes for him. When he was loose, he got looser. I worried about him because one day we were playing a gig in Quebec, and the promoter had run off with all the money. Jimi came offstage, and his ears and his nose was bleeding. He’d been kneeling in front of his amplifier – it’s not a good sign. I told him something about it – but I don’t even know if he could hear me.

So here is Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys live at the Fillmore on New Year’s Eve 1970 with “Who Knows”:

You can hear the whole album here.