Books
EVENTS AT BORDERS
TUESDAY 6TH NOVEMBER 7PM
LOUIS DE BERNIERES
At The Cottier Theatre (tickets £2, only from Borders)
The author ol Captain Corelli’s Mandolin leads a group of local actors through a rehearsed reading ol his new play
Sunday Morning At The Centre Of The World. TUESDAY I3TH NOVEMBER 7PM
SEXUAL FASCISM: SEX IN THE SCOTTISHMEDIA
Journalist Gary Otton's book, Sexual Fascism, covers a period ol 5 years, providing a snapshot ol the sexual attitudes in Scotland at the end ol the old millenium and the start ol the new.
WEDNESDAY 14TH NOVEMBER 7PM
HARRY BENSON
Now in his seventies, phOleOurnalisl Harry Benson has taken pictures ranging lrom the Beatles to Bosnia; the shooting ol Bobby Kennedy to the attack on the World Trade Centre. To mark the publication oI his retrospective book Harry Benson:
Fifty Years In Pictures, Harry will be giving an illustrated talk in-store.
SATURDAY I7TH NOVEMBER 7PM
SERLE CHAPMAN
Native American photographer Serle Chapman celebrates the release of his new book We, The People. Joining him will be several contributors drawn lrom the group ol artists, historians, activists and traditional elders who provided the text for Chapman's wonderlul pictures.
TUESDAY 20TH NOVEMBER 7PM
GLASGOW’S HARD MEN
Jaurnalist Robert Jellrey's new book contains a host ol gripping stories culled Irom the comprehensive archives ol The Herald, The Evening Times and The Sunday Herald, revealing the darker side ol 0 city once plagued with crime.
WEDNESDAY 28TH NOVEMBER TQ—TPM
GEORGE BEST
The legendary lootball player will be signing copies of his autobiography Blessed. To ensure that everyone gets to meet him, Mr Best can only sign copies ol Blessed.
WEDNESDAY 28TH NOVEMBER 7PM
STEPHEN FRY
at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (tickets £2, only from Borders) II you have never heard Stephen Fry read Irom one ol his best selling novels, you have missed a huge treat. The hilarious Mr Fry makes a welcome return to Glasg0w to read Irom his novel The Star's Tennis Balls, the stOry ol 0 y0ung man whose blissful existence is turned upside down.
THURSDAY 29TH NOVEMBER 7PM
WHO WANTS TO BE A GLASWEGIAN?
Ian Black runs a Iree quiz in Borders (Sale based on his new book Who Wants To Be A Glaswegian?
A lun night out Ior anyone interested in the city.
ORDERS”
98 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW GI 38A TEL: 014] 222 7700
www. borderssfores.com/stores/283 OPENING HOURS:
80m to I 1pm, Monday to Saturday, lOam to 9pm Sunday
104 THE LIST ' Iii No. 700i
CHICKLIT KATHY LETTE
Nip ’n' Tuck (Picador £14.99)
Long before Bridget Jones uncorked her first bottle of Chardonnay. Kathy Lette was busy cornering the market in (BO-something female angst. With a succession of bestsellers behind her. including puntastic efforts as Foetal Attraction and Altar Ego. she's stalked the territories of man-hunting. babies and marriage. taking few prisoners
along the way.
So what topic is she turning her eagle eyes. sharp talons and barbed tongue onto now? Turning 40. that's what. We find our heroine Lizzie McPhee growing old gracefully until her husband falls for a surgically- enhanced Texan daytime soap actress. Cue a midlife crisis that leaves us wondering will she or won‘t she succumb to the plastic surgeon's knife
to keep her man. or decide he's not
worth keeping after all.
Lette tleshes out midlife angst
One thing you can say about Lette. she doesn't mince her words and you can't help feeling there's a lot of her own personality in her heromes. Born in Australia. now living in London. having been a journalist in New York along the way. we imagine the author being just like her central characters: women who aren't afraid to shoot their mouth off. being true to themselves regardless of the
conseQuences.
Lette takes the very real fears that women have and stamps her raw sense of humour all over them. creating a comedy of errors reminiscent of Patsy and Edina in their finest Ab Fab moments. Lette does what she does very well and it's a formula she sticks to womanfully in Nip 'n' Tuck. There are no surprises here. just a fast-moving. entertaining romp that her many fans will happily devour.
(Louisa Pearson)
MODERN FABLES BRIAN PATTEN The Story Giant tHarperCollins $312.99) 00..
Till. SlUllY ('ii \wr
Despite living on opposite sides of the world. teenagers Rani. Hasan. Belts and Liam all have the same dream and find themselves inside the castle of the Stery Giant. Having spent thousands of years roaming the earth in search of tales. the Giant has quite a few yarns under his belt. But one stery alludes him, and if he doesn't find it soon. he'll die.
In their dreamlike state. the children impart tale after tale in a bid to save the giant's life. Which all sounds rather childish. but in reality The Story Grant is an absorbing collection of tables drawn from many centuries across many different lands. The tales
themselves are too gruesome for younger children. invariably involving death and deceit. and the hidden moral WOUld probably stay that way for anyone under ten.
What fascinates most however, is the way each Culture has similar versions of the same tale. reminding us we're not so different after all. (Kelly Apterl
SOCIAL DRAMA JONATHAN FALLA
Blue Poppies (1 1:9 £9.99) 00.
This delightful debut novel follows a period in the life of a Scottish wireless operator in Tibet. In what is at times a very dark and harrowing tale. Falla manages to enchant with his characters and to allow you to assoaate with their peculiarities. At the heart of the novel are three characters: Jamie the wireless operator. Khenpo Nima the local physician-lama and Puton. the crippled and rejected woman whom Jamie comes to love. Unfortunately. war soon comes to them in the
form of the Chinese army and they have to make their treacherous journey to safety. It is during this jOurney that they come to rely on and respect each other while outwitting the Chinese and fighting for survival. Falla makes this a bewitching read which stirs up a multitude of emotions from love and longing to anger and disgust. You can't help but support this fine novel's characters in their long journey to freedom. (Jane Hamilton.
MODERN TALES BRIAN HENNIGAN Scottish Urban Myths 188W £75.99 0000
The urban myth has become a storytelling staple which has replaced the pub joke or the fireSide ghost tale and here in the'r' glen, is a vast collection of these palpable untruths collecteo by Scots comic and autiior Brian Hennigan.
owever. the title rings a few Ztlétl'll‘ bells once you start reading. There is little of genuine Scottisnness about them. and |'\e (3(?Y'l£lllll\ heard of