Books
Charlotte Square’s finest
ROBERT TWIGGER & ANDY MILLER
What maketh a man?
One of the most potent, if often infuriating, sociological debates of recent times have surrounded men. What are they for? Are they good at anything other than belching, fighting and snowboarding? What happened to the New Man? Maybe, he was just never here, a figment of broadsheet columnists' collective imagination. Robert Twigger and Andy Miller are forever rooting around for answers to those kinds of questions. In extravagantly titled books such as Twigger's Being a Man in the Lousy Modern World and Miller's Tilting at Windmills: How I Tried to Stop Worrying and Love Sport, they may find that answer utterly elusive, but it's a lot of fun watching them try. I Studio Theatre, 78 Aug, 8.30pm. £8 (£6).
10 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 1";
First book you read?
Funny you should ask. because I'm trying to track it down. There was one Enid Blyton title I re-read dozens of times when l was five or six. A couple of piXies are booted out of PiXieland and have a series of adventures including a ride on a mad train. ironing the curls out of a princess' hair. and so on. I'll find it some day. Best book ever?
Tough call. I’ve loved A Clockwork Orange (a huge influence on me as a teenage wannabe writer), Martin Amis' Money itoi its sheer love of language) and Jilly Cooper's Riva/s (an escapist \A/onderlandi. .James Ellroy's White ./a// would be in there, too. And the worst?
The little Island written by a Scots author whose name escapes me: so bad it was good. It opened Willi dialogue like ‘Well. here we are on our
2;) Aug puny
IAN RANKIN
little island only eight miles off the south-west coast of England. and aren't we lucky to be here in the year 2010 With armed insurrection threatening the mainland' Classic stuff.
Which dead writer would you like to have been?
Walter Scott. He sold like Grisham, was a bit of a lad, but also a man of great courage. And with a stoater of a house.
Favourite literary joke?
‘How do you make a fortune from publishing? Easy. yOu start with two tortunes.‘ Maybe you had to be there.
Which relatively unknown writer will we be talking about in five years’ time?
Hopefully. Carol Anne Davis.
I Consignia Theatre. 20 Aug,
1 7.30am, 57 (5‘5).
books@list.oo.uk
HITLIST >l<
FESTIVAL BOOKS
‘l was so long writing my review that I never got around to reading the book’: Groucho Marx
I Antony Beevor Sheena McDonald is back in the chair’s chair for the man who has done as much as anyone to bring the history book thumping back into fashion. The World War II events in Stalingrad and Berlin have been the subject of his recent successes. Cons/gn/a Theatre, 16 Aug, 7.30pm, E 7 (£35).
I Janice Galloway After making us wait too many years for a new novel, the acclaimed Glasgow writer returned with Clara. That wait was rather worth it. See preview. Spiege/tent, 77 Aug, 10.30am, £7 (£5).
I Ian McEwan Two chances to meet the man who so convincingly wrote about a brand new illness in one of his novels that reviewers and psychiatrists were taken in. Consignia Theatre, 77 Aug, 8pm, £8 (£6); 78 Aug, 77.30am, £7 (£35).
I Ian Rankin Will he kill off Rebus? How much is Rebus like his creator? How far do the similarities go between John Hannah and tan Rankin? Just three of the questions probably not being asked at this event with the nation‘s creme de la crime. See The Write Stuff. Cons/gnia Theatre, 20 Aug, 71.30am, £7 (£5).
I Stephen Poliakoft Perfect Strangers was amazing. Shooting the Past a triumph. Then there's The Tribe, which was an altogether weirder fish. But any Poliakoff venture is a TV highlight of the year. See preview. Consigni'a Theatre, 20 Aug, 6.30pm, £8 (£6).
‘janicc Galloway
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