The memoir, in particular, adds rich detail to what has long been known about Sophia Tolstoy from her brilliant diaries, which were translated into English in the mid-1980s.
At home, all bien-pensants considering "never voting Labour again" should read Giles Radice's bleak and brilliant Diaries 1980-2001 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) to be reminded how exactly that thinking brought the left 18 years in the wilderness.
March 14 , 2014margot james (@margotjamesmp) Lessons I learned from Benn's brilliant diaries: trust the people, be true to your beliefs and be there for your family March 14 , 2014Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) RIP Tony Benn; courteous, civilised, & utterly principled.
In Scott Alexander Hess' brilliant novel Diary of a Sex Addict, Grindr plays a major role in the narrator's increasing isolation and ultimate slide into outrageous sexual scenes.
Charles Owen was clearly a brave and brilliant pilot, his diary littered with heroic deeds, but told in a very laconic style, typical of air crew at the time.
Of all the many theatrical mishaps described by Simon Gray in his brilliant series of Diaries, one of the most severe was his involvement in an early version of the 1993 Broadway musical The Red Shoes, composed by the then octogenarian Broadway legend Jule Styne, who wrote Gypsy and Funny Girl.
The set-up of The Bunker Diary is brilliant, but the working out of its story seems uncertain, perhaps unsatisfying.
Before concentrating on thrillers, Robert Harris wrote several works of nonfiction, including Selling Hitler, a brilliant account of the "Hitler diaries" story.
It's certainly good enough to lighten the gloom of a dark summer afternoon but we might wish for some of the bracing candour that makes the diaries such a brilliant read.
If you need convincing, read the book's brilliant, disturbing centrepiece, The Semplica-Girl Diaries, on the New Yorker website.
