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Martin Chilton

Chief Book Critic@MartinChilton

Martin Chilton is The Independent's chief book critic and a freelance writer on culture. He is the former culture editor at The Telegraph and sports editor at the Evening Standard. He has written four sports books and regularly chairs events at literary festivals, including at the Hay Festival and London Book Fair.

<p>Salman Rushdie pictured in 2023</p>
Reviews

Salman Rushdie’s Knife is moving, sardonic and not for the squeamish

<p>April’s best books include John Connell’s ‘Twelve Sheep: Life Lessons from a Lambing Season’</p>
Features

The best new books to read this April

<p>Our guide to March’s best books </p>
Features

The best new books to read this March

Emil Jannings with his Best Actor statuette, 1928
Features

The Nazi shame of the first Best Actor winner at the Oscars

<p>Lead duo Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, neither of whom were the first choice for their roles </p>
Features

Blazing Saddles at 50: The story of the wackiest western ever made

<p>Books about Irish miners, Saddam Hussein, and risqué sex clubs are among this month’s picks</p>
Culture

The best new books to read this February

<p>It’s been a great year for reading... here are our tops picks of 2023 </p>
Features

The 25 best books of the year, from Zadie Smith to Paul Murray

<p>Non-fiction about the moon, and Volodymyr Zelensky, along with fiction by Sigrid Nunez and Michael Cunningham are among January’s books</p>
Features

The best new books to read this January

<p>It’s been a great year for reading... here are our tops picks of 2023 </p>
Features

The 25 best books of the year, from Zadie Smith to Paul Murray

<p>The works of Chaucer, non-fiction about American warfare, gulags, small states and a prison memoir are among December’s books </p>
Features

The best new books to read this December

<p>Booker Prize 2023 winner Paul Lynch with his novel, Prophet Song </p>
Features

The judges picked the wrong Paul to win this year’s Booker Prize

<p>Declan Rice, left, and Harry Maguire celebrate England’s 3-1 win over Italy, which sealed qualification for Euro 2024 in Germany </p>
Football

If England were playing Malta in my garden, I’d close the curtains

<p>Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte in Ridley Scott’s historical epic</p>
Features

How Napoleon influences pop culture over 200 years after his death

Features

How Napoleon influences pop culture over 200 years after his death

<p>Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte in Ridley Scott’s historical epic</p>
<p>Paul Auster, Anne Michaels and William Boyd are among November’s authors </p>
Features

Books of the month: From William Boyd to Paul Auster

Features

Books of the month, from JM Coetzee to Madonna

<p>WH Auden, one of the 20th century’s best-loved poets, died 50 years ago </p>
Features

The brilliant, eccentric life of poet WH Auden

<p>The best of September’s book releases</p>
Features

Books of the month, from Sebastian Faulks to Zadie Smith

<p>The best of September’s book releases</p>
Features

Books of the month, from Sebastian Faulks to Zadie Smith

<p>Zadie Smith creates a compelling picture of a rumbustious Victorian household</p>
Reviews

Zadie Smith’s The Fraud is splendidly modern and authentically old

<p>The British chat show legend Michael Parkinson, who has died at the age of 88</p>
Features

Michael Parkinson defined the British chat show

<p>Simon Thomas said it was an ‘honour’ to replace ‘legend’ Jeff Stelling </p>
Features

How ex-Blue Peter host Simon Thomas became Sky TVs football hotshot

<p>Stevie Wonder photographed in the UK on 25 January 1974, a year after his near-fatal crash</p>
Features

The car crash that almost killed Stevie Wonder, 50 years on

<p>‘Tom Lake’ and ‘Cheri’ are also among the month’s recommendations</p>
Features

Books of the Month, from Anna Funder to Richard Russo

<p>England international Henderson wearing a rainbow armband during a Liverpool match last season </p>
Voices

How can Jordan Henderson square LGBT+ support with move to Saudi?

<p>Novels by Patrick deWitt and Catherine Chidgey are also among our picks</p>
Features

Books of the month, from Colson Whitehead to Selina Mills

<p>‘Alan could read the telephone directory and he’d be fascinating’: Alan Arkin, who has died at 89, in 1970’s ‘Catch-22’ </p>
Features

Alan Arkin was brilliant, difficult, spiritual and underestimated

<p>England international Henderson wearing a rainbow armband during a Liverpool match last season </p>
Voices

How can Jordan Henderson square LGBT+ support with move to Saudi?

<p>Novels by Patrick deWitt and Catherine Chidgey are also among our picks</p>
Features

Books of the month, from Colson Whitehead to Selina Mills

<p>‘Alan could read the telephone directory and he’d be fascinating’: Alan Arkin, who has died at 89, in 1970’s ‘Catch-22’ </p>
Features

Alan Arkin was brilliant, difficult, spiritual and underestimated

<p>‘Legacies are a crock of s***’ </p>
Features

Novelist Richard Ford on dyslexia, musical heroes and literary feuds

Features

Novelist Richard Ford on dyslexia, musical heroes and literary feuds

Head shot of Martin Chilton
Martin Chilton
<p>‘Legacies are a crock of s***’ </p>
<p>Martin Amis died at his Florida home on Friday </p>
Features

Master stylist Martin Amis was the Mick Jagger of the literary world

<p>A portrait of Cormac McCarthy from the dust jacket of his debut novel, ‘The Orchard Keeper’, in 1965 </p>
Culture

The wild life and dazzling prose of Cormac McCarthy

Culture

Books of the month: From Richard Ford to Lorrie Moore

Culture

Books of the month: From Deborah Levy to Claire Dederer

Culture

Books of the month: From Deborah Levy to Claire Dederer

Culture

Books of the Month: From Max Porter’s Shy to Michael Frayn’s memoir

Features

The life of born show-off Noel Coward, 50 years on

<p>The best of February’s book releases </p>
Culture

Books of the month: From Salman Rushdie to Blake Morrison

<p>Rushdie’s courage and steadfast belief in free speech continue to be a source of inspiration</p>
Reviews

Stories outlast tyrants in Salman Rushdie’s vibrant Victory City

<p>Our January selection includes the first novel in 13 years by Bret Easton Ellis</p>
Culture

Books of the month: From Jane Smiley to Michael Bracewell

<p>Cormac McCarthy and Ali Smith also make the list </p>
Culture

The 20 best books of the year, from Claire Keegan to Jonathan Coe

<p>An eclectic selection of this month’s reads </p>
Culture

Books of the month: Self-help, short stories and sea creatures

<p>Among this month’s picks are releases from Bob Dylan and William Shatner </p>
Features

Books of the month: From Jonathan Coe to Bob Dylan’s essays

<p>Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka</p>
Features

The 2022 Booker winner has been named. Did the judges get it right?

Culture

Books of the Month: From George Saunders to Alan Rickman’s diaries

Features

Books of the month: From Ian McEwan to Terry Pratchett

Features

Books of the month: From Ian McEwan to Terry Pratchett

<p>This month’s picks include ‘The Night Ship’ by Jess Kidd and Philip Parker’s ‘Small Island’ </p>
Culture

Books of the month, from The Queen of Dirt Island to The Dolphin House

Features

Books of the month, from Meantime to Milk Teeth

Culture

Books of the month: From Fight Night to Factory Girls

Features

John Grisham’s 10 best novels ranked

Features

John Grisham’s 10 best novels ranked

<p>May is a fruitful month for fans of non-fiction </p>
Culture

Books of the month: From House Arrest to The World in 2050

Culture

Books of the month: From Companion Piece to Trespasses

Culture

Books of the month: Waterloo Sunrise to Homesickness

<p>Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian singer whose 1964 hit ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ is said to be the second-most recorded song ever</p>
Features

The sad story of Astrud Gilberto, the face of bossa nova

Culture

Books of the month: From Brown Girls to The Colony

Culture

Books of the month: From The Raptures to How High We Go In The Dark

<p>In a year that started in lockdown in the UK, literature has offered an important outlet</p>
Features

The 20 best books of 2021, from The Promise to Animal

Culture

Books of the month: From Siri Hustvedt to Sidara Ribeiro

<p>The South African author has won after two previous shortlist disappointments </p>
Features

Booker winner Damon Galgut on growing up in South Africa

Culture

Books of the month: From Jan Grue to Rose Tremain

<p>Emily Ratajkowski is well placed to write about the fetishisation of girls and female beauty in ‘The Body’ </p>
Reviews

Emily Ratajkowski’s My Body is a candid critique on fetishisation

Reviews

Emily Ratajkowski’s My Body is a candid critique on fetishisation

<p>Emily Ratajkowski is well placed to write about the fetishisation of girls and female beauty in ‘The Body’ </p>
<p>John Banville: ‘I don’t read praise. I don’t read anything about myself at all’</p>
Features

John Banville: ‘For 40 minutes I was a Nobel Prize winner’

<p>October reads</p>
Culture

Books of the month: From Jonathan Franzen to Sarah Hall

<p>The success of ‘Normal People’ and ‘Conversations with Friends’ has made Sally Rooney’s ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ one of the year’s most hotly anticipated releases</p>
Reviews

Sally Rooney’s new book is stimulating, but not aimed at the olds

Culture

Books of the month: From Stephen King to Susie Boyt

Culture

Books of the month: From Stephen King to Susie Boyt

<p>The success of ‘Normal People’ and ‘Conversations with Friends’ has made Sally Rooney’s ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ one of the year’s most hotly anticipated releases</p>
Culture

Books of the month: From Sally Rooney to Sebastian Faulks

<p>Louis Armstrong in London, 1956, with future biographer John Chilton far left</p>
Features

Louis Armstrong: the warmth and wit of the legendary jazz artist

<p>Romance memoir, debaucherous characters and feminist essays feature</p>
Features

Books of the Month: From Lucy Ellmann to Olivia Petter

<p>Top reads for June range from memoir to thrillers and a dark confessional </p>
Independent Premium

Books of the Month: From Sinead O’Connor to Lisa Taddeo

<p>Marvin Gaye photographed by Gordon Staples, concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, in the Motown studio console room in early 1971</p>
Features

The bitter true story of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On

<p>Nancy Mitford’s classic novel has been been turned into a three-part BBC One mini-series </p>
Features

Nazis, nicknames and ‘child hunts’: The bizarre life of Nancy Mitford

<p>May’s books: a selection of history, biography and fiction</p>
Culture

Books of the month: from Second Place to Whereabouts

Culture

Books of the month: From Philip Roth’s biography to Richard Coles

Features

The 10 best love songs to win an Oscar

Culture

Books of the month: From Klara and the Sun to Milk Fed

<p>This month’s books</p>
Culture

Books of the month: From We Are All Birds of Uganda to Asylum Road

Culture

Books of the month: From Insatiable to Brown Baby

Tommy Docherty pictured during Manchester United’s 1976/77 season
Features

Tommy Docherty was a dazzling wit and a joy to write a book with

Books

The best books to look out for in 2021

<p>Ali Smith and Hilary Mantel also make the list</p>
Features

The 20 best books of 2020

<p>Ten of John le Carré's exquisitely written novels were adapted to film</p>
Features

Farewell John le Carré, one of literature’s most substantial talents

Books

The best books to look out for in 2021

<p>Ali Smith and Hilary Mantel also make the list</p>
Features

The 20 best books of 2020

<p>Ten of John le Carré's exquisitely written novels were adapted to film</p>
Features

Farewell John le Carré, one of literature’s most substantial talents

Culture

Books of the month, from ‘How to Write One Song’ to ‘Jew(ish): A Plea’

<p>Author Douglas Stuart</p>
Features

Douglas Stuart: ‘Homophobia makes you think there’s something broken’

<p>Scottish writer Douglas Stuart won the Booker Prize for fiction &nbsp;for ‘Shuggie Bain’, his novel about a boy’s turbulent coming of age in hardscrabble 1980s Glasgow</p>
Features

Booker Prize winner Shuggie Bain is a brutal and tender classic

L-R: Booker Prize contenders Tsitsi Dangarembga and Maaza Mengiste
Features

A guide to the Booker Prize 2020 shortlist

<p>This month’s books</p>
Culture

Books of the month, from ‘Mr Wilder and Me' to ‘The Last Good Man’

Family affair: Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in 1972’s ‘The Godfather’
Features

Mario Puzo at 100: The Godfather remains timeless

Novels by Jodi Picoult, Stuart Turton and Sigrid Nunez also hit shelves
Culture

Six of the biggest books released this month

'The great joy of being a novelist is that when bad things happen in life, you get a chapter out of it'
Features

David Nicholls: ‘I didn’t have the confidence to show my work'

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