27 January – 2 February 2023 IN THIS ISSUE 12 Being Bret Easton Ellis The novelist on wokeness, serial killers and controversy 18 What Germany gets wrong Ukraine’s national security adviser on betrayal 26 Andy Murray Jason Cowley on the late style of the tennis great 29 Crony nation Rachel Cunliffe on a new wave of Tory sleaze 40 Mourning and melancholia Johanna Thomas-Corr on the literature of loss 46 The American berserk Sarah Churchwell on gun violence in the US 52 Iberian obsession Michael Prodger on the art of the Hispanic world Inside Ukraine: Oleksiy Danilov on the onslaught to come Unbreakable: Andy Murray The language of loss Please note that all submissions to the letters page, our competitions and reader offers are accepted solely subject to our terms and conditions: details available on our website. Subscription rates: UK £119.99; Europe €159.99; Rest of World US$199.99. Syndication/permissions/archive email: permissions@newstatesman.co.uk. Printed by Walstead Peterborough Ltd. Distribution by Marketforce. The New Statesman (ISSN 1364-7431) is published weekly by New Statesman Ltd, 40-42 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8EB, UK. Registered as a newspaper in the UK and USA 27 January – 2 February 2023 | The New Statesman 5