With rain lashing the windows of the Guardian offices here in London, we're off in pursuit of some ice and snow. The writer Adam Gopnik, who spent his childhood winters in the six-foot snow of Montreal, brings a blast of northern air with his examination of the coldest season of the year, Winter.
He explains that it's only comparatively recently we've come to take pleasure in frosty weather, and examines our perennial fascination with Arctic explorers. Gopnik also suggests that Christmas gains its power from a split personality, and springs to the defence of the essayist's art.
Next we retreat to the warmth of the kitchen with Bee Wilson, who traces the effect of technology on our food in Consider the Fork. But it's not all nitrous oxide and centrifuge: Wilson tells how our anatomy was altered by the adoption of the knife and fork, assesses the evolutionary advantages of a well-done steak and explores why the must-have gadget in the 18th-century US was an egg beater.
Finally we turn to three writers who are attempting to turn back the tide, or at least to mark the passing of the age of paper. As the written word slowly shifts into electronic form, Philip Hensher, Ian Sansom and John O'Connell sing the praises of penmanship and explore what may be lost in transferring our literary culture from sheet to screen.
Reading list
Winter by Adam Gopnik (Quercus)
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson (Particular Books)
The Missing Ink by Philip Hensher (Macmillan)
Paper by Ian Sansom (Fourth Estate)
For the Love of Letters by John O'Connell (Short Books)
