magus of Fitzrovia in his prime, The

Spectator, The, Apr 7, 2007 by d'Ancona, Matthew

'I desperately wanted it to succeed, and this is where I parted company with those who would rather that Iraq was reduced to a pile of burnt toast than to see George Bush succeed. I thought that was just parochial and cynical. I didn't like to see murderous Zarkawi supporters slaughtering Muslims at prayer, or in market places, and be hailed by sections of the Left as liberators, freedom-fighters or even insurgents. The silence of the mosques here bothers me when another 80 people are killed.' He remains a man of the Left, but inquiringly so, constantly testing assumptions and orthodoxies. As a longstanding environmentalist, he watches David Cameron with keen interest. 'I will judge him by what he does. Obviously riding round on a bicycle is not going to be it.

And I bought one of those wind turbines and I sent it back, it was complete nonsense. You cannot generate any useful energy from a £1,500 thing from B&Q.' As for Blair, he thinks the final audit will be kinder once the bitterness of Iraq has subsided.

I admit that Ian McEwan is a hero of mine: a man of letters and liberty, sceptical, decent and free. As we part company outside the restaurant, the stone of London looking its best in the early spring light, he recalls Bellow's line that a man could be happy living on Charlotte Street.

He looks pretty happy to me.