Books

EVENTS AT BORDERS

WEDNESDAY 9TH MAY 7PM

JOE PIERI

Joe Pieri chronicles the history of the police in Glasgow since WWII including the lost interview with Joe Beottie investigating olti- cer in the intamour Bible John killings of the I960's.

THE BIG MEN

THURSDAY IOTH MAY 7PM

ALASDAI R GRAY

To celebrate the publication of the limited anniversary edition of Lanark Alasdair Gray will be discussing his classic novel with Alan Taylor of the Sunday Herald.

TUESDAY 15TH MAY 7PM

MORO COOKERY

Sam and Sam Clark chef-owners of the renowned Moro restaurant wil be cooking some of their delicious fusion dishes from Spain.

WEDNESDAY 16TH MAY 7PM at the GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

IRVINE _WELSH

Author of Trainspotting and Filth will be discussing his new novel

GLUE

THURSDAY 17TH MAY 7PM

SEBASTIAN FAULKS

Bestselling author of Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, will be reading from and discussing his new novel

ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET

LOOK OUT FOR SCOTLAND ON A PLATE 23 MAY, SOPHIE GRIGSON 30 MAY, 11:9 LAUNCH 31 MAY, NICK HORNBY 19 JUNE

BORDERS”

98 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW GI 3BA TEL: 014] 222 7700 OPENING HOURS: 80m to l Ipm, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 9pm Sunday www.bordersstores.com/stores/283

108 THE LIST L36 Apr—10 Ma. 2001

secs. start t »

BILL DUNCAN

The Smiling School For Calvinists Bii‘iorhstitir‘. {prim OOOOO

ere comes anither yin, ye H cry. And well you might;

anither scary looking baldy fella frae the east 0' Scotland

bangin’ on aboot the peculiarites and idiosyncracies 0‘ his toon and

its folk.

In particular, Broughty Ferry. No’ the maist salubrious ‘3 places I’ll grant ye but Duncan diz the incredible: he makes ye want tae actually go tae Broughty Ferry. No’ tae marvel at the ‘grim beauty of high rises’ or tae enjoy ‘the organic

splendour of the sewage outlet’, this isnae a celebration o’ poverty, but tae see the pubs, snugs and closes he so vividly describes.

Duncan disnae play workin’ class hero though, or apply the boy-did- good pompostity that some skate dangerously close tae. He tells wee stories aboot fowks he’s kent, or aboot the stuff ye owerhear in the pub, the bus queue or somewhar, it dinnae aw happen tae them first hawn, bit

it’s fasinatin’ onyway.

No’ jist anither scary fella fae east

This is part history book, part guide book an’ part anecdotal collection, Duncan his a knack for bein’ able tae convey the urban mythic comedy 0’ ‘Baather Wi’ A Snake’ to the bleak biog of ‘The Gravedigger’ with equal

depth of expresshun.

So wit if he often diz it in the fonetic vernacular, it helps encapsulate characturs and immerses ye in the world he’s writin’ aboot. He kin convey the maist simple 0’ tales wi’ untold energy and vigur, and a plaintive brilliance that wid make the sternest o’ fowk’s lip tremmel.

Bill Duncan isnae Irvine Welsh. Thank fuck; wan’s enough onyway.

(Mark Robertson)

CRITICAL ESSAYS MARTIN AMIS The War Against Cliche (Jonathan Cape 5:20) I...

MARTIN AMIS

The Wu Again” Cliche

The object of reacting a book reView is. ordinarily, to ascertain whether or not you'd like to use up valuable leis‘ure hours lost between the pages of a freshly delivered tome. The prospect. therefore. of wading through back-to—back theses. essays and ponderings on books published years preVious should fall on the wrong Side of appealing.

Not so here. Martin Amis IS jUSl as intelligent. humorous and captivating when speaking his own mind as that of his cnaracters. ReViews turned out fOr The Observer in 1972 show a less confident mind than the one writing for the New

Yorker in 1991. hut the sharpness of thought remains Vibrantly consistent. iKelly Apteii

can It ivii>oimnv DRAMA MATT THORNE

Dreaming Of Strangers (Phoenix With?) .0.

Brat Pack ntoyres and iinackriowlerkieil voyeuristic tendencies bring filni reVie‘J/er Chris Paley and unemployed movre producer Becca Cotes together when he rents her flat at the end of a failed relationship They haven't ll‘OI. but shared friends and her fascination '.‘.’llIl his ’.’l(I‘:<) collection lead Becca to start a stalking campaign when her own lover becomes infatuated .‘/llll a film actress. lnterspersed with guirky outlines of Chris favourite cult riiovies and Becca's unsurtable boyfriends. Matt Therne's fast-edit storytelling ster is perfectly structured for those who commute by public transport. But fasc‘inating though his ster and ideas are. Thorne fails to get anything more than fluff- deep into his characters. And the story itself. which has so much

potential toi I.'.’lf}l‘; and iron,_ ‘.‘.'|II tail to satrst; an, but the most popcorn addled of his readers. And those ~.'.rtio get all the references ‘.'.’lII no dontit I;e irritated Ir, his analysis at an; rate. iIliorn I)lI)tIllll

I III I‘lAI’iY I)I’./\I.4/\

AKIRA YOSHIMURA Shipwrecks '(Lanorigate 575.99! O...

Akira Yoshiritiiia's stark prose slices through the fif:tilllllf:7; in 8/ir,'ii',zrergla';. evoking life in a re'note coastal ‘.’lIIét(}(: of iitedre'.ai ,Japaii '.'.’llll ruthless clarity; If,£tl<ll if, onl, nine years old. but the I’tflilifill‘dlnlll‘,’ for his fa'itil', 'r; stir/rural if. shackled to Ill‘, tin, physical frarr‘e. and he ri‘iist iriaster the delicate art of trapping saiir,‘ tisti between Ill‘, fingers. He needs to understand the f,f)lt"l‘.lli'1('tl drea'ii of O- ItlflU-‘n'tfl‘tt r of ships l()tillflf,flfl’} on the reef. (I(:Il‘.":flllf} tinge hales of rice that ‘.'/lII save them all ifffll‘ ine/itable stanation. And. he learns to I)ll|I(l fire‘; under salt cauldrons. to lure the passing ships III.

In a simple narrative. Yostiiiiiura generates incredible empathy for