HARVARD GRAD.
Naked ambition: a 30 year old Harvard student exposes himself for Naked New York (Bloomsbury £12.99). a revealing portrait of American life by photographer Greg Friedler. Be prepared to have your eyes opened,
groom? ~ so we Cassia;
new titles BOOKS
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modern slang and invective, though, and you have a story straight from the pages of Black Mask magazine. This pulp fiction owes more to James Cain than Quentin Tarantino. If there is a flaw in this compelling thriller, it's that the plot is almost too perfect — you never doubt that it will all end badly. But before everything crashes, the journey is thrilling. (TJ)
A Mapmaker's Dream
James Cowan (Hodder & Stoughton £12) ht it
The formal representation of a perceived reality is the cartographers art. From his monastic cell in 16th century Venice, Fra Mauro receives Visitations from travellers to distant lands and from their tales creates a mappa mundi. But from these meditations it soon becomes clear that his art has a much wrder use than the simple drawmg of maps. It is also the art of the philosOpher, the sCientist, the astronomer and even the novelist. Creating what purports to be a journal, discovered in a dusty library, is a neat and subtle deVice — although James Cowan's slender volume is not always conVinCing. By contemplating the world as it was known 400 years ago, Cowan is not only able to entertain but to question the nature and value of 20th century knowledge. (TD)
PAPERBAOKS
Dead Glamorous Carole Morin (Indigo £6.99) it *1»
Curious and impishly humorous, this is 'An autobiography of seduction and self-destruction’. Morin, novelist and columnist, inherited her Glaswegian slum landlord's fortune and moved to New Mexico on a quest to live a life only seen in her beloved movies. Tales of an eccentric family, her brother's SUicide and time spent running the Wormwood Scrubs Fun Film Club add reality (SM)
The Enchantment of Lily Dahl Siri Hustvedt (Sceptre £6.99) i: ***
Siri Hustwedt
The follow-up to the acclaimed The Blindfo/d, this is a compelling portrait of small-town America complete With a plethora of Lynch-like touches. Lily is a nineteen-year-old waitress who dreams of being an actress During the course of one summer, she sees a chance to realise her dreams, falls in love and meets new mentors. Excellent characterisation. (SM)
Just Keep Talking
Steve Wright (Simon and Schuster £9.99) fr it
To most the chat show is a fading genre in which B-list celebrities are fawned over by small sCreen legends. This story of the chat show recognises this but encompasses the American concept of chat show as confession box. Hence Russell Harty and Terry Wogan rub shoulders With Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donoghue. Relatively uninteresting (SM)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE:
Toni DaVIdSOn, Thom Dibdin, Brian Donaldson, Rodger Evans, Teddy Jamieson, Susan Mackenzie
A W 3 H
STAR RATINGS * t * * * Outstanding * * * * Recommended t t it Worth a try * * So-so it Poor
5586 ASS IE I 0 333418 SJBHPIDEIG SZ
Kuediuog Buipwi area—i QLLL
Book events over page
RODDY DOYLE
will be at The Arches, 30 Midland Street, Glasgow G1 reading from his latest book
‘I'I'IE WOMEN WHO WALKED INTO DOORS
on Friday 20th June from 7.00pm.
Tickets £3, are available from Waterstone’s on 0141 221 0890 or from the shop at 132 Union Street, Glasgow GI 3QQ
l3~26 Jun 1997 TIIB LIST 95