Books
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M. {Ell l) ./ MARIUS BRILL Making Love
DUI”; ‘J’lr't, “ 7.1K”
Mrranda rs not the krnd of woman that men chase. lhat rs. untrl she steals a book about the greatest government consprracy of all trme. Wrthrn hours. three men are chasrng her:
I Irrt. who wants to help: Peersnrde. who wants the book at all costs; and Ferdrnand. who wants to rrrake love to her (or rs there more to hrm than that’?l.
But the real hero here rs the hook rtsell. Sellrv deprecatrng, honest andstrarghttorwartI ‘r don't lrke the corners of my pages turned down: rf you're too rnnumerate tr remember a page number, get a bookmark -the tome narrates; the ensuing adventure and gradually reveals the grand consprracy: 'lhey call rt thrngs lrke ettecme human resource management. We call rt Iove.' Yes, one was rnvented to keep down the masses.
An absurd. hrlarrous. spr. cum actror‘ cum- postmodern thrrller, Ar'akrng l ove rs rnriredrbly clever wrthout Sll()‘-.'.’If‘.§} oft, seit— reterentral wrthout bemg self congratt:Iatory. and a damn good read. Fantastrc. rAnna Shrpmanr
THAVU MYSII HY DELLA MASON The Treasure Hunters rTravelogue 57.5.95”
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It, Irke Mrlls & Boon (who regurre at least one upped bodrce per paperbackr Travelogue has a checklist of demands Wrth the” publrcatrons. then ‘Travel by Coaclr' serres wrrter Della Mason has zealously fulfrlled her
brref. She lrsts Scotland's best locatrons. the frnest hotels. even whrcn n )wspapers to pour over xvrtl‘. your krppers. In her haste to act as vrSrtscotland rn novel form. Mason leaves barely enough space to sprn her yarn ~ about \arrous Iarger—thanlrfe clraracters' guest to unearth Bonnre Prrnce Charlre's lost Hrghland gold ~ whrch rs told wrth the breathless Jovralrty of an Enrd Blyton thrrller. Unfortunately. The Treasure Hunters; also shares wrth The Secret Seven that same tendency towards grotesgue stereotyprng. as every Scottrslr character rs a grnger teuchter. natterrng away rn dodgy dralect. 'lhrs. plus an annoyrng tendency to place
HISTORICAL [DRAMA
LUTHER BLISSETT
0
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POLITICAI COME IL" CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY
No Way to Treat a First Lady r’TrmeWarner 5“? (it);
CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY
Grven the current state of US polrtrcs. rt feels; lrke an oddly rnapproprrate trme for a polrtrcal comedy. But Chrrstopher Buckley rs as wrapped up rn the folly of the US legal system and the covert struggles between America's governrng bodres- FBI. CIA etc
as he rs the presrdency.
so the larnrlrarrty rs bearable.
r\"‘.«’rllra'rr lIernerr‘ann S‘t-'1.E)E)r 0....
In May 1534 Jan of Leyden was proclaimed King of Munster. Outside the city, the French king and the Holy Roman Emperor manoeuvred for supremacy, the papacy sought to crush innumerable Protestant sects and the poor rumbled with discontent. Inside, Leyden ran through the town naked, made children judges, enforced polygamy, feasted wildly and proclaimed the world’s imminent destruction. Under siege, the city's inhabitants were soon eating rats, roots and dirt, while Leyden executed dissidents himself.
This horrific episode is just one of the events in the life of Luther Blissett's many-monikered protagonist, a radical Anabaptist who fights in Thomas Muntzer’s peasant revolt, rampages through the Low Countries with Jan Van Batenburg's fanatical Sword Bearers, defrauds the multinational Fugger bank, disseminates heretical literature and manages a Venetian
brothel.
Confused? You will be. Blissett is not the Watford and AC Milan footballer of legend, but a name adopted by a group of Italian anarchists — although it has been suggested (improbably) that the author of this rousing novel is none other than Umberto Eco. It's a big book. The hero moves from crisis to haven, his actions shadowed throughout by a papal spy known only as ‘0’.
Throughout, the authors of Q avow their enthusiasm for radical social change and their disgust for traditional power structures. But it's Q‘s action rather than its ideology that really inspires. This is a novel that drips with trickery and cant, that wholeheartedly rejects predestination while existing as a series of utterly gripping flashbacks, and overflows with blood, guts and passion. It may be rooted in the head of one man, but this is a novel of enormous scope and sharp detail. It will stain you. (James Smart)
102 THE LIST 8—32 May 20GB
res; rrr‘a’nws attorne. Boyce ‘Bha'nrnr-snf Haw" lrrradrr‘re the r as! rr‘ Smear/:1 actrng out l'w 'r.‘./r,>s;.' and ,:>r.'r-a part ‘.'.'a. there predrctable enough perhaps. but s;:: stuprdlj. tunrr, that rt's; farrlj, parnless ro'nr, to the brtte' and t‘.‘.'rsteri end. rMark Hobertsoe
IX I!“ :Al I ALISSA QUART Branded lArro'.'.' 513.99. .C.
Brlled as 'the next No Logo'. Alrssa Ouart's expose of the corporate rnfrltratron of teenage hearts and rnrnds promrses excrtrng thrngs. But the srmrlarrty between the two books ends; at then lush. stylrsh coxers Ithus utrlrsrng the tools
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rn.-&stu_;at‘ 2"»; .r"'I personal ex; r-vter Barnum: It‘efa‘... ": 43".} Se "g [Menagem explores; the metho It. use! b, l>ran:l alreis; t" 'rtortr:poirs;e the rim,’ he of (3enr-ratr an \r’ rtnosu- :rnlortunates, lxorn ler'fl ‘rsi’frfw.
()uart nerselt rs; a true Generatron X kid brought up on a health, dose of [he Breakfast Club. and she attempts to uncover the advertrsrng and rnarketrng strategres; deployed rn explortrng the tastest expandrng market: that of the the teen t‘.'.’een
IHRILLER. NOVEL 0F IDEAS. IHE (UU
Dripping with trickery and cant
MICHAEL” BALFOUR
Mysterious Scotland
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lytrrlrar-l lialtrrr rr‘s; thoro-rrih exploration of the legends, li’Ililétf. and ort’trtre‘. H" Scotland‘s; culture an’l landscarre rs; one ’JI those neh gurrles that 'nakes. .ou realise lrrr.'.' lrttle you ar'tuall, knr alrout ,orrr r‘.'.'n liar,k,;rrrt. All Illr: ta'nrlra' yarns. are here, from Nessie and the Inelpre to l rrrgal's. (.a.e ar.d f‘kara Brae. as. '.'.e!l as. "real Iror'ors' like Burke and Hare or cannibal ELL-Joe, iearr
But the great to; of Balfour's, rrr‘.'es.tr<;at;r,rr rst rat rt lea/es, nr, stone .lllTilY'llr’l to reueal s'rrr‘e .'.‘:!rrlrre'.‘. or porrrt 'rt t;:“.<,lll£l?l’rll lurking beneath. Among these are theories, and explanations, regardrrx; Illf)t.’)f'l’,ill phenomena such as. Celtrr. carprrr'y. and standing stones. an rn';rgnt rnto Scotland's; geographrcal and anthrormlogrrgal ’Ir:‘.eloprrrent as well a'. forgotten anecdotes, grrsl,’ stones; and ancrent rites, and tra’lrtrons,
though occasionally a lrttle 'lr//,rrng rn rt‘. breadth 'all are corrurnunrcaterl at LIQEMIV/Lk ‘i{)‘:‘;’J .‘xltnolrt (lelrneatron; tlrr‘) rernarrrs. a compellrng gurde. and the author's entnusrasm rs rncredrbly rnfeetrous. r/«llan Pad/,Irffer