THere is a proud tradition of English novelists pursuing their love for music: Charles Dickens entertained himself, and occasionally others, with his accordion; Thomas Hardy fiddled for country dances. Few, however, have taken their sideline quite as far as the bestselling author of What a Carve Up!, The Rotters’ Club and Middle England.
At 61 Jonathan Coe has become something of a musical star. This may be news to his English fans, less so to his (many) Italian readers. Since last year, a 20-strong jazz-rock band in Italy has played his compositions with the author guesting on keyboards. There have been five concerts so far, and now, after publishing 20 books, Coe has made a debut live album. Musichi di Jonathan Coe is