Events
BORDERS. Highlights
books-music-video-cafe
Gerry Cambridge
celebrates the launch his new book
Nothing But Hear/re): which offers you a close encounter with Scottish wildlife through poetry and photographs.
7pm Thu 25th Nov
Cabaret in the Cafe.
With a new look to his Sunday Night performance slot. Robert Knox introduces live music. performance poetry. spoken word performance and stand up comedy.
8pm Sun 28th Nov
7pm Wed lst Dec
Kelsang Tharehin will be in-store discussing Buddhism and meditation.
7pm Wed 8th Dec
Glasgow on a Plate
Join the cream of Glasgow’s top chefs for a cookery demonstration as they prepare a feast of food in-store.
7pm Thu 9th Dec
Join Moira Kerr for an evening of Celtic melody in the cafe.
Ian Rankin’s
books have been bestsellers in Scotland for years — the rest of the world is finally catching up. With John Hannah taking on the role of inspector Rebus in a new TV adaptation. Rankin's readership is set to grow and grow.
12 noon Sat 18th Dec
Ian Rankin will be in-store signing copies of his books. The ideal Christmas gift!
Plus our regular programme of creative writing and poetry classes. discussion groups. children's events. live music and much. much more . . .
For more information 98 Buchanan Street, Glasgow G1 3BA
0141 222 7700
8am to 11pm Monday to Saturday. 1 lam to 10pm Sunday
118 THE lIST 18 Nov—2 Dec 1999
BOOKS REVIEWS continued
:3 r)ot created from the placing of ms characters into Jeopardy, but from his revelations of the hidden layers of both the school and its inhabitants There is insufficient attentiOn to some of the more colourful details. which makes them clumsy and there is a blatant angle for the film Still this is convincing stuff which will make yOu want to keep reading it lOng after the lights should have been out (TD)
CONTEMPORARY FABLE Eight Minutes Idle
Matt Thorne (Sceptre £6.99) 1: air it You work in a low paid jOb you hate and socialise with people you dont care about. Life is banal and youre going nowhere fast, This is a lifestyle which many a twenty and thirtysomething identifies with in the end part of the century Blur were right modern life Is rubbish, but it's providing Matt ThOrne wth great socirce material.
Working twenty-four seven in a call centre in the Midlands, Dan is stuck in lUSI this rut. But when his dad is hospitalised following a car accident, Dan's deadening routine — work, pub, chippie, cable TV porn — is interrupted. Not that having to find his dad's half of the rent for their grotty flat, or figuring out who the strange women Visiting him in hospital are, shocks Dan out of his listless eXistence.
Thorne really nails down what it means to be part of the beaten generation, but there's more to his second novel than meets tne eye. (MF)
POETRY COLLECTION Jizzen Kathleen Jamie (Picador £6.99)
‘1‘: 71’ 5s
For those whom Scots is not the ‘Mither Tongue', the word ’Jizzen' means childbed and, in this collection, acclaimed Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie addresses both childbirth and the rebirth of a nation. Jamie's last volume of poetry, The Queen Of Sheba, received rave reViews and if this volume falls slightly short, it may simply be that political reality has intervened between the date these poems were written and their publication.
The optimism of Jamie’s response to Enric Miralles's design for the new parliament — ’an upturned boat, a watershed’ - now seems slightly out of kilter Nevertheless, this is a fine volume, With a broad reach and the occasional flash of brilliance.
And in ’The Lucky Bag’, a poem commissioned by the Museum Of Scotland, there Ir. a fitting tribute to a more familiar nation of tattie scones and chips from Brattisani’s. (MJ)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE
Simone Baird, Susanna Beaumont, Catherine Bromley, Thom Dibdin,
Miles Fielder, Morra Jeffrey, Dawn
Kofie, Alan Morrison
STAR RATINGS
r t t * t Outstanding
t t as * Recommended * t it Worth a try
1! * 50-50
v: Poor
books
events THURSDAY 18 Glasgow
Roger Cook \\'aterstone's. 153—15" Sauchiehall Street. 332 9105. 2pm. £2 (£1 1. Roger Cook. T\"s most famous undercoy er reporter discusses his book Diineeriiuv Ground ( HarperCollins £16.99) which has already been withdrawn once by the publishers to avoid litigation.
Waterstone's/GFT Film Challenge Glasgow Film Theatre. 12 Rose Street. 332 8128. 9pm. £1. SOLD ()l'T
Edinburgh
Processing Words Dav id Hume Tower. George Square. 650 .1400. Further information from Word Power on 662 9112. 7pm. Free. .-\ creative writing workshop from Alan Jamieson. former editor of the [filin/nire/i Ret'ien'. followed by readings from (ironndS'ue/l maga/ine. Centre For Scottish Public Policy \\'aterstone‘s. 128 Princes Street. 226 2666. 7pm. Free. Gerry Hassan. director of the CSPP. introduces :1 .l/inlel'niver '\ Guide 72) Sent/rind: New Thinking ["0" The New Sent/iian (CSPP £10.99). a collection of polemics written by an eclectic group on various themes. Speakers include Lindsay Paterson of Edinburgh L'niyersity and Joyce .\1ac.\lillan. columnist for The .S'i'iiisniun.
SATURDAY 20
Glasgow
Jacqueline Wilson ()iiakar‘s Bookstore. [hit 6. Buchanan Galleries. Buchanan Street. 353 1500. 2—3pm. Free. The best- selling children‘s author signs copies of her new novels (iirls ()iii [.(ll(’ and Girls ('nilei‘ Pressure (Doubleday £10.99).
Edinburgh
Word Power Fifth Birthday Celebration Assembly Rooms. 54 George Street. 220 43-19. Further information from Word Power 662 91 12. 8pm. £5 (£3.50). Scotland's only radical bookshop celebrates its fifth birthday with readings from James Kelman. Li/ l_.ochhead. Laura Hird. Hamish Henderson and Stisie Maguire and music by the Edinburgh Folk Choirs. Gillian MacDonald and Frank McLaughlin.
TUESDAY 23
Glasgow
Michael Shea Royal Concert Hall. 2 Sauchiehall Street. 287 5511. 1pm. £2.50—£3. A career as a diplomat and as the Queen's press secretary has given Shea ample fodder for his nov els. the latest of which is Spin ()ffl HarperCollins £16.99).
Sauchiehall Street Reading Group Waterstone's. 153—157 Sauchiehall Street. 332 9105. 7.30pm. Free. Tonight the group discusses .S'iinsei Sung by
Lewis Gi'assic Gibbon. Edinburgh
Norman Davies Assembly Rooms. 5-1 George Street. 220 43-19. 7pm. £3 (£2). The author is joined by TH. Dev ine and Alex Salmond to talk about his new book The Isles (MacMillan £30). a debate on Scotland‘s place in the L'nion.
WEDNESDAY 24
Glasgow
Cafes Litteraires Alliance Francaise De Glasgow. 7 Bow mont Gardens. 339 4281. 6pm. Free. This informal book discussion group looks at Le iii/eur l)’lnni)eenee by Rene Fregni.
Robert Bauval \‘l'aterstone's. 17-1 Argyle Street. 248 481-1. 7pm. Free. The renowned Egyptologist explores the science and mystery surrounding the quest for the Hall of RCCOI‘ds at Giza. Anthony Holden \y'iitersione’s. 153-157 Sauchiehall Street. 332 9105. 7pm. £1.