FOOTBALL THPILLEH MANU VAZQUEZ MONTALBAN Offside (Serpents Tail 5:099) .00.
Please don't be put off. Yes. football is integral to the plot. but this. the fifth translation in the Pepe Camalho series. is more an inVitation to (,IISCOWET a potent force in European fiction. Combining the Catalan first loves of food and football wrth the seedy underbelly of Barcelona. Montalban takes you on a culinary detective tour through an area of the city no tourist would ever hope to see. What he creates is wonderful film noir crime fiction, with the main character, Pepe Carvalho. a mongrel crossbreed of Chandler's Marlowe and Dexter's Morse.
The plot is great as well. concerning an English star centre- forvvard who has just signed for Barca. Death threats are being issued. but by who. for what purpose and WIII they carry it through? With enough tWists and turns to OUIWIl even Celtic's defence. this is a must for all football fans. culinary experts and crime writing enthusiasts alike. (Aly Burt)
SCHEMIE EPIC IRVINE WELSH Glue (Jonathan Cape Ci 2) 0000
GLUE
IRVINE WELSH
Behind the violence. the hard talk. the scatological banter. the hard-edged cynicism, the casual law-breaking. and the reckless excess of drink. drugs and sex. there's something desperately vulnerable. even soft-centred. at the heart of Irvine Welsh's latest. It's an ambitious novel that. in tracking the lives of four Edinburgh schemies. attempts to capture some of the cultural shifts of the last 30
years. from disco to aCid house. power cuts to mobile phones. boys to men.
But more than this. it is a subtle study of the male pack. obsen/ing not Just the bravado. but the fear that lies behind it. expOSing the pain of every physical and iiisychological punch. Welsh can be both sad and funny. never sharper than when he gets his teeth into a good yarn about house—breaking or football hooliganism. Despite cameo appearances from Spud. Benton and Begbie. Glue is no Trainspotting — it lacks that novel's economy and charm — but at its best it is gripping, perceptive and true. (Mark Fisher)
MYTHICAL MYSTERY MARINA WARNER
The Leto Bundle (Chatto 8 Windus 16.99) .0...
? “(6.4 .Qtr%
ll"?
social commentary. subtle academic satire. exquisite evocation of nature: this is remarkable writing. Marina Warner's words will spin you effortlessly between the arid deserts of the Gods and the earnest politics of cyberspace. Raiding your senses. they will wind the pinnacles of critical thought into an urgent detective story. begging you to unravel a magical web rather than solve any mortal crime. At times. yOu will live the Hellenic myth. There. Zeus purSues the Goddess Leto. who — flashing the pink flesh of leaping salmon. squirting the sepia ink of cuttlefish — cannot escape his rape. At times. you will live today in the country of Albion. There. the government Department of Cultural Identities defines the planetary Diaspora: Hortense Fernly, museum Curator.
analyses a Greek mummy; Kim Mcriuy. primary school teacher. reconstructs ITISIOF), Ohliiie.
And each new chapter WIII challenge yOu WIIIT novel images. thwarting the expectations of the last. iHeather Vi/almsleyi
TEENAGE FICTION ADELE MINCHIN The Beat Goes On (Livevvire $5.99) 0
This is not a novel. it's
an AIDS information
pamphlet dressed up in the thinnest of stories.
Fifteen-year-old Leyla is the orin person to whom her cousin. Emma. can turn to for help when she discovers she is HIV positive. There's nothing exactly wrong in this. but it w0u|d help if Adele Minchin didn't take a tedious 80 pages to reach any real plot development. It w0u|d also help if she had a modicum of skill at writing dialogue. There's plenty of potential in the raw material of the situation. With Leyla as a feisty drummer who fancies the pants off a sensitive DJ type in the upper- sixth and loads of issues to be faced. But just as
the actual story seems
to be going somewhere. it's suddenly over. Surely Mary Poppins only recommended one spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down, not a bucketful’? (Thom Dibdin)
ALSO PUBLISHED
Norris Church Mailer Windchill Summer (Fourth Estate F699) Norman missus Willi female bonding tale in 60s Arkansas. Julianna Baggott Girl Talk (Hei'nemann F999) Eccentric characters populate this coming-of- age story.
Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space (Go/lancz £6. 99,) Acclaimed paperback from British sci-fi's brightest star.
Frances Fyfield Undercurrents (Warner £6.99) A very English murder mystery, but with a heart.
Anna Davis Clieet (Sceptre E 70.99) Infidelity and driving novel from Melting writer.
Books
WATERSTONE'S
AUTHOR EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS GLASGOW. SAUCHIEHALL STREET
Wednesday 30th May at 7pm
COLIN BATEMAN & JAKE ARNOTT
'Shooting Sean' &
'He Kills Coppers;
An evening with two of the most exciting writers of modern fiction. ' Tickets -Free
EDINBURGH. OUEEN'S HALL
Wednesday 30th May, 7.00pm
FRANK MCOOURT
'Angela's Ashes & 'Tis'
A rare chance to hear Frank read from and discuss his work. This is surely the book event of 2001.
Tickets E4/E3
Details of all events at Waterstone's can be found in the listings section.
SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH
£2 OFF in May ‘CHILDISH THINGS'
Robin Jenkins
From the author of 'The Changeling' and 'The Awakening of George Darroch' comes a brilliantly written and received new novel.
Canongate £9.99 Waterstone's Price £7.99
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