at; :,x.\ .u «.t-‘< >N!t :;r JOYCE CAROL OATES
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1933 Was A Bad Year
poss; >sses; something that sets; him apart from the rest: The Arm.
Dom is; a talented baseball pitcher. and Ihe Arm is; his; confidant and friend; he keeps; it moisturised and calms; it down in moments; of crisis. But Dom's; father has; plans that do not Involve baseball.
()uirky. stylish and often funny, there are frequent glimpses of what John Fante could (to. But we remain curiously detached. and tits; characters ..ltrrnately fail to gain our sympathy. Although titrs; is; a poetic evocation of the lim:tatrons imposed by poverty and racism, it l‘as; been done better elsewhere.
Arna Shipman;
ESTICXEHAW IY PAMELA STEPHENSON Billy I'IAII'IXEI'COIIIITS s‘t Isis). co
There's; been an
Inex'rtabée press s;toos;iire around the ouititcatron of this; biography of Billy Connolly by his; Wife. fltf'lit'llltl on revelations of ncmosexual tixllfflltklli’XEE; and sexual abuse by in; father. In reality, these issues; are f;()ltlt}‘.'.’l‘.£tl skirted over. and ti qeneral this; book rs; a rather“ flimsy and :>r:':as;2<>nalli. ':r'r‘qe‘xxortliy look at a o'etty uamn interesting
()r; form, the Big; Yin Is funny. f;l‘;tllf3ll‘.£tll(l. outraqeous; and 'ft;‘.’r :rent; sadly [Bi/Iv is; none of these thinqs. and Pamela Stephenson is no great .‘xnter‘. l ssentially there are two parts to the l/mk. Ihe first is; all ‘ooor unbrinqinq. broken horne' stuff, wrth Stephenson at often 'iv'a'rous; pains; to ex; In.“ the concept of
urban Scotland to a presumably American readership.
The second part is all ‘Dustin Hoffman said this. and George Harrison did that'. only not nearly as interesting as that sounds. A resolutely uninspired account of a unique comic talent.
(Doug Johnstone)
FILM STUDY
BEV ZALCOCK Renegade Sisters (Creation SI 1 11.95) .0.
,- -
‘Girl power' and 'deviancy' are the key terms; in Bev Zalcock's; survey subtitled Girl Gt'trtgs On Film. Here you'll find Russ Meyer's fast pussycats. Jack Hill's; SW/tC/lb/(IUO S/stei's and the science fiction maidens; known as; Cat Women On The Moon.
The majority of these movies; are exploitation flicks; so Zalcock helpfully locates; them on a sliding scale of misogyny between what she terms the ‘punish the blonde movie' (exemplified by Alfred Hitchcock's; abuse of Tippi Hedren) and its; flipside. the ‘ambitious; blonde punishment movie' (such as; Fatal Attraction).
It's not all exploitation by men. though: women went for the money shot too. Thus. this; expanded edition of the 1998 book includes; an interview wrth Stephanie Rothman. director of Student Nurses: another new chapter focuses; on the Delinquent Nurses; sub- qenre. [alcock's is; an exhaustive survey. but it falls down on analysis. It's not good enough to write; Queen Of Outer Space is so wonderfully camp' and 'hard to top'. Bad qirl. (Miles; l’iieldet‘l
Books
EVENTS AT BORDERS
TUESDAY 16TH OCTOBER 7PM
COLIN PRIOR
Launches his beautiful new book of photographs: Scotland - The Wild Places, with an illustrated talk on
this magnificent photographic record of Scotland's landscapes.
THURSDAY 18TH OCTOBER 7PM
TIM PAGE
An emotive retrospective of 35 years of war and peace in Indochina from this leading photoiournalist.
WEDNESDAY 24TH OCTOBER 7PM '
PAMELA STEPHENSON ON BILLY CONNOLLY
at The Glasgow Royal Cbncert Hall (tickets £2, only from Borders)
Pamela Stephenson is an expert on comedy, psychiatry and of course her husband, Glasgow’s favourite son, Billy Connolly. This is an event not to be missed as the woman who knows him best gives a fascinating insight into a unique star.
THURSDAY 25TH OCTOBER 7PM
JONATHAN FALLA
l l :9, Scotland's fiction imprint, celebrates its first anniversary with the publication of an impassioned and compelling debut novel, Blue Poppies, from an award winning author of film, plays and stories.
MONDAY 29TH OCTOBER 7PM
RUTH THE TRUTH
One of Britain’s most popular psychics with an easy guide to developing yOur powers.
TUESDAY 30TH OCTOBER 7PM
TIMOTHY GOOD -
British UFO expert gives an illustrated talk focusing on an examination of the existence of alien bases on earth.
TUESDAY 6TH NOVEMBER
LOUIS DE BERNIERES
The author of Captain Correlli's Mandolin leads a rehearsed reading of his play Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World at the Collier Theatre. Tickets cost £2
THURSDAY 8TH NOVEMBER
TOM BAKER
The fourth and most popular Dr. Who will be reading from and signing Doctor Who The Scripts covering the first season of Tom Baker's incarnation.
COMING IN NOVEMBER: GEORGE BEST, STEVEN FRY, AND MANY MORE . . .
BORDERS“:
98 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW Gl 38A TEL: 014] 222 7700
www.bordersstores.com/stores/283
OPENING HOURS: 8am to l lpm, Monday to Saturday, lOam to 9pm Sunday
'3; Us". l THE LIST 109