BOOK REVIEWS continued
COMEDY THRILLER
Happy Now
Charles Higson (Abacus €6.99) fir 3k it fir
It always starts thus: a few emotionally crippled but otherwise normal folk whose lives encircle and collide. Cue the learning from each other, recognising their failings and reconciling the screwed up-ness they inherited from their fathers.
But as this is a novel by Charles ‘The Fast Show’ Higson, there is no way that this very black psycho-thriller is going to simply head down that path. Instead, the main characters in Happy Now, originally published in 1993, seem to choose the most destructive
Eating & fl Drinking Guide 1999
option at every turn. Tom believes that the young burglar-cum-museum curator Will holds the secret to happiness, while Lucy is only woken
from her dazed existence by the murder of her husband.
Higson manages to balance the extremely anti-social and mentally unstable characters with a very dark - wit, so it’s not only the macabre details i which make this such compelling reading. (SB)
PERSONAL MEMOIR l Remind Me Who I Am, ‘ Again
Linda Grant (Granta £7.99) it t *
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. Sadly, many readers will be able to identify with Linda Grant’s moving account of her mother's mental deterioration as a victim of Multi- lnfarct Dementia, of which there are over 700,000 sufferers in the UK alone.
Available 15 April
[\sz13PJ fi‘fis
at MONIACK MHOR A REGISTERED CHARITY
'l'lll'. SL1 t'L‘l lSl-I ARTS (:(X'NCII
The Arvon Foundation Moniack Mhor
near Inverness CREATIVE WRITING COURSES FOR 1999
Experience the writing process at first hand. Four and half day courses, tutored by professional writers, in beautiful surroundings.
May 10—15: Poetry and Short Fiction with Brian McCabe and Medbh McGuckian
May 24—29: Poetry with Brendan Kennelly and Mimi Khalvati June 7—12: Starting to Write Fiction with Romesh Gunesekera and Lawrence Scott
June 14—19: Short Stories with John Burnside and Agnes Owens
June 21—26: Drama with Judith Johnson and Winsome Pinnock
The full course fee is £320 (£195 for students). Grants, which can he substantial, are availablefor those unable to afford the
fullfee. For bookings and further information call
01463 741675
Grant charts in detail the devastating effect of the disease, not just upon her
I mother but on the whole family. As
; Rose Grant’s short-term memory begins to fail her, the author also looks ; back over her family history — to her mother’s birth in Liverpool at the end
of World War I; to her immigrant father’s early life in Prohibition-era
: America; his subsequent arrival on
' Merseyside and all the way back to her ; Eastern European Jewish roots.
As a historical document it’s fascinating reading, but what really impresses is the rigorous honesty with which the daughter writes of her difficult relationship with an apparently unloving mother. It makes for a raw, honest and occasionally funny
j confession. (MF)
f WHITBREAD WINNER = The Last King Of 2 Scotland Giles Foden (Faber £6.99) * at it a:
. Foden's first novel deserves the praise
and prizes heaped upon it. The book could be compared favourably to much of Graham Greene’s work, with a compromised and fallible indivrdual embrorled in political intrigue and moral corruption in an exotic location.
. The country in question is 705 Uganda,
and the protagonist a Scottish doctor
who becomes personal physician to the dictator, ldi Amin.
Doctor Harrigan IS, at heart, a weak
individual, perhaps even a coward. His
failure to act against his tyrannical employer is initially frustrating, until
i one realises that the sequence of anti-
climaxes reflect the world's way of dealing with despots. We cosy up to them, fascinated by manic charisma and homicidal zeal.
On an indivrdual basis too, the book
constantly questions whether the
f reader would have had the moral
E conviction required to assassinate a
4 mass murderer. Whatever your answer,
this makes for uncomfortable reading.
, (RF)
f CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Simone Baird, Thom Dibdin, Brian ; Donaldson, Clark Dunn, Rodger Evans,
Miles Fielder, Rob Fraser, Alan Morrison
STAR RATINGS *i‘k‘k * Outstanding a: it * * Recommended * 3k * W0rth a try * * So-so * Poor pl
98 THE HST 18 Mar—l Apr 1999
books
EVENTS
3 THURSDAY18
Glasgow
Classics Discussion Group Borders Books. 283 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 6.30pm. The group discuss limile Zola‘s Therese Ruquin.
Ali Smith John Smith. 252 Byres Road. 334 2769. 7pm. Novelist and short story writer Ali Smith achieved great acclaim for her first collection of stories Free Love in I995 and published her first novel Like two years ago. Tonight she reads from her new collection Other Stories (Ultl other stories (Granta £9.99).
Edinburgh
Fifth Column: Writer's Workshops ('entral Library. George [V Bridge. 225 558-1. 6—8pm. Free. For further details call 225 558-1 or pick up an enrolment form from any lidinburgh public library. Ron Butlin leads this poetry workshop. Also on 25 Mar.
Brid Hetherington James 'l‘hin. 53—59 South Bridge. 622 8222. 7pm. The Dunfermline author reads from her new book (fur/er The Shadow: Letters ()flxn'e
Am! War [9/] —-l9l7 ((‘ualann Press
£12.99).
Eileen Drewery Assembly Rooms. 54 George Street. 220 4349. 7.30pm. £3 (£1.50). i’aith healer Iiileen Drewery has been much in the press recently because of her association with (ilenn lloddle and the lingland football team. Her new book Why Me? My Life As A Faith Healer (Headline £14.99) is her account of the first manifestations of her powers and how she has since used them to help countless people. Whether you‘re a cynic or a believer this should be a thought- provoking evening.
FRIDAY 19
Glasgow
Valerie Thornton The Tryst. 3t) Cranworth Street. Hillhead. 357 (i838. l0am-- noon. Free. Workshop for poets led by Valerie 'I’hornton.
SATURDAY 20
Glasgow
Contemporary Fiction Discussion Group Borders Books. 283 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 12.30pm. Sebastian l’aulks‘ powerful love story Birdsong is the chosen book for this session.
Jon Keliemor The Tryst. 30 Cranworth Street. llillhead. 357 (i838. 2--5pm. Free. Workshop about music and poetry run by Jon Kelieinor.
Edinburgh
Fifth Column: Writer's Workshops Wester l-lailes Library. 1 \Vestside Plaza. 4-12 I220. I0am-—noon. Free. See Thu l8 for ticket details. Joy Hendry leads this poetry workshop. Also on 27 Mar.
Fifth Column: Writer's Workshops Leith Library. 2S 30 Ferry Road. 529 55l7. lllam-r-noon. Free. See Thu l8 for ticket details. Poetry workshop led by Valerie (iillies. Also on 27 Mar.
Glasgow
Robert Knox Borders Books. 283 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 8pm. Free. Performance poet. Robert Knox hosts this regular poetry evening giving writers and performers the opportunity to share their work.
' TUESDAY 23
Glasgow
Janice Galloway Ramshorn Theatre. 98 Ingram Street. 287 55l l. l---2pm. The author of The Trick Is '12) Keep Breathing and I-oreign I’urrs reads and talks about her work. Part of ll'ritertest.
Nine Lives ’l‘lie Seolia Bar. l 12 Stockwell Street. 552 SoSl. 8.30pm. l‘ree. Launch of Nine I.l\'(’.\‘ (Department
()I‘ linglish Literature. (ilttsgow
l'niversity £3.95) written by teaching staff from the university.