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MEDIA SATIRE
Armadillo William Boyd (Penguin £5.99) ***
The Scots-born novelist William Boyd has always had an eye for the grotesque and absurd. So it is perhaps inevitable that, with Armadillo, he turns his attentions to the London~ based media demi-monde, a scene waiting for a satirist if ever there was one.
Wandering into this crazed world of megalomaniac pop stars and ageing yuppies is the innocent figure of Lorimar Black, a simple loss adjuster who finds himself in deep waters after one of his clients is found dead. Of course, this is just the start of his troubles, and his situation looks increasingly Kafkaesque as the tale unfolds.
Unfortunately, Boyd loses the plot
i slightly after the impressive opening — , some of the societal observation
. doesn’t ring true, making Armadillo
i not quite the scathing satire it obviously wants to be. Still, it’s sharp
I and funny and the labyrinthine plot
‘ will keep the pages whirring by. (BW)
‘ LEGALTHRILLER
The Testament
John Grisham (Century £16.99) at * Write about what you know, they say. But a bit of variation isn't too much to ask, is it? But hey, why change a successful formula, right John? Reading Grisham's latest is like having a bad case of déja vu (not to mention an instant remedy for insomnia).
The usual ingredients are all in here — I
’ the maverick lawyer, the love interest, ; and the nasty people awaiting their comeuppance. Billionaire and all-
‘ round cad Troy Phelan kicks the
'i bucket leaving his vast fortune to an
illegitimate daughter who is living her life as a missionary in Bolivia and wants nothing to do with the money. Our maverick lawyer has to travel there and convince her to take the cash or sign on a dotted line to say she doesn’t want it. Save yourself the money (and the bother) and wait until it comes out on video — it’s bound to
be a blockbuster. (KK)
MlLLENNlAL ANGST Snowdome
Bernard Cohen (Allen & Unwin £6.99) *
Even at an environmentally friendly
157 pages, Bernard Cohen's novel feels
far too long. This probably has something to do with the language he employs, which is simultaneously dense and superficial. It's reminiscent of, but far inferior to, early Martin Amis (Other People, Success) — before he hit his literary stride.
Snowdome is a city novel which looks i
at Sydney in the present and future. If Cohen wanted his readers to mourn the passing of the megalopolis (in the future it serves as a giant museum) he should have presented us with citizens more appealing than the drug~addled, work-shy, soap-dodging crusties who serve as protagonists.
The opening line reads: 'Tinnitus was the spirit of the age.’ Well, he got that right, because Cohen’s is a voice to which you'd be wise to turn a deaf ear. What you might call a failure of style over substance. (RF)
, URBAN COMEDY
My Legendary Girlfriend
Mike Gayle (Flame £6.99) iii Although there’s a familiar ring to Mike Gayle's comic narrative of emotional complexities in lonely bedsit land, it contrives to be amusing and occasionally moving. if you can imagine the miscegenation of Bridget Jones and Nick Hornby, you’ll have an idea of the style and tone of this novel, but don’t dismiss it.
Gayle’s debut takes place over the course of a weekend. Its first person narrator, Will, is reflecting long and painfully about his former main squeeze, Aggi, who dumped him on
‘ his 23rd birthday exactly three years
before. His bitter ponderings are
‘2 interrupted by calls from Alice (female 1 best pal), Martina (obsessive ill—judged
one night stand), Simon (male best pal who unhelpfully reveals that he
3 jumped Aggi while Will was still with her) and Kate (former tenant of Will's 3 scummy gaff, whom he falls in love
'i with down the phone). There’s a
predictable denouement, but like
hang-gliding to Birmingham, the
journey's more fun than its end. (SC)
' Continued over page
the bookstop cafe
drink the latte eat the muffin read the book
Chew the cud
never has retail been so good for the soul
4 teviot place. edinburgh 0131 - 225 5298
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125' \1111
Discussion Groups 1
@ Borders
CLASSICS DISCUSSION GROUP
Thursday 18th February at 6.30pm. WILKIE COLLINS’ THE MOONSTONE.
SCOTTISH FICTION DISCUSSION GROUP
Saturday 20th February at 11.30am. ALAN WARNER‘S MORVERN CALLAR
CONTEMPORARY FICTION DISCUSSION GROUP
Saturday 20th February at 12.30pm. ALEX GARLAND’S THE BEACH
FILM DISCUSSION GROUP
Tuesday 23rd February at 7.30pm FILM FANATICS COMETOGETHER FOR LIVELY DEBATE.
SCIENCE/FANTASY FICTION DISCUSSION GROUP
Wednesday 24th February at 7.30pm. WILLIAM GIBSON’S CYBERPUNK CLASSIC NEUROMANCER.
BORDERS“
books-musie'videoocafi
98 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW G1 3BA 0141 222 7700
Simon Callow
LOVE IS WHERE IT FALLS (Nick Hem Books)
Friday 5th March, 6.30pm
gft, Rose Street, Glasgow Tickets £2.50
(£1 redeemable against price of book at the event)
Tickets available from Borders and gft.
BORDERS‘ booksmummagomfe
98 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW G1 3BA 0141 222 7700
18 Feb—4 Mar 1999 THEM“