5 books every gentleman should read this week

When photographer Daniel Kramer first met Bob Dylan in 1964, the singer was still relatively unknown. Securing the enviable position of being able to spend an entire year on tour with the musician, Kramer found himself ideally placed in order to capture a decisive moment in his career – the year in which his songs went global.

His sustained proximity allowing him to get beneath Dylan’s camera-shy exterior, Kramer’s images offer a fluid, extended portrait that captures both Dylan’s enigmatic and more familiar faces. A captivating and unprecedented collection of photographs, A Year and A Day provides a new lens through which to appreciate this near- mythic musician.

In 1952, Ian Fleming bought a gold typewriter after finishing Casino Royale. If Bond was Fleming’s carbon copy, then this book is the photographic negative of the novels. The author wrote to a wealth of people, from playwright W. Somerset Maugham to his own fault-finding fans.

Edited and elaborated upon by his nephew Fergus, this book collates those letters, painting a fascinating portrait of Bond’s creator, revealing a man of keen wit and charm. Arranged in chronological order, they progress in tandem with the Bond saga, offering insight into his bestselling series.

Many a man would like to bolster his philosophical knowledge, yet finds the idea of grappling with knotty and rigorous tomes a little withering. In this respect, Sarah Bakewell has provided a get-out-of-jail-free card of sorts: placing Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond Aron at a café table, her book embarks on an elevated yet entertaining tour of existentialist ideas.

Ranging from Heidegger to Jean Paul Sartre, a central figure in Thirties Parisian thought, this remains light by delving as much into their intriguing personalities as their influential thinking.

Walter Wellesley or ‘Red Smith’ is one of the greatest American sportswriters of all time, even winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1976. Noted for his immense literary craftsmanship and wry humour, he wrote three to four columns a week that were printed by 275 newspapers in the United States and 225 in about 30 foreign countries.

Smith’s commitment to his craft can perhaps be summed up in one of his most famous quotes: ‘Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.’ Despite his love of boxing, Red was not a fan of Ali until very late in his career. Before Ali and Frazier’s final match in 1975, Smith admitted he was a great fighter and man.

Focusing on the 1974 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Kinshasa, Zaire, The Fight is famed for containing some of the best sports writing ever to be put to paper. Written by Norman Mailer, a key exponent of New Journalism, this powerfully descriptive book chronicles one of history’s greatest boxing matches.

Mailer’s ego is fairly conspicuous throughout, but this arguably adds to the reading experience, making for a rare piece of genuinely literary sports journalism. Profoundly evocative, The Fight opens like a window onto the event, proving a treat for those too young to experience Ali first hand.

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