Reviews
HISTORICAL DRAMA DON DELILLO Falling Man (Picador) 0000
As soon as the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, several things were inevitable. The sick jokes would start flying, the conspiracy theories would take to the internet and Don DeLillo would be sifting through the wreckage for a future novel. And so five-and-a-half years on, Falling Man finally leaps onto the shelves, adding 9/11 to the pantheon of landmark 20th century people and events he has covered, from Lee Harvey Oswald in Libra and the ‘Bob Dylan’ character of Great Jones Street to the whole post-war shooting match of America in Underworld.
With Falling Man, DeLillo is as vibrant and difficult as ever, wrestling with the psychological aftermath of September 11 in the hearts and minds of normal people caught up in that hell on earth. But he also ups the ante on the actual bodily harm done to individuals: the man who walks around caked in other people’s blood and the recurring motif of ‘organic shrapnel’ with the terror of having the exploded bits of a suicide bomber lodged in your body. For DeLillo, perhaps he has been taking much stock over 9/11 as it was almost written in the stars by himself. In Mao II, he described ‘midair explosions and crumbled buildings’ and the first edition of Underworld features a cloud-covered World Trade Centre with what looks like a bird flying away from it. Look at that image now and try not to see one of the iconic jumpers. (Brian Donaldson)
SHORT STORIES CLAIRE KEEGAN Walk the Blue Fields (Faber) 0000
WALK THE BLUE FIEIDS ciAiiua maize/w
Antarctica. Claire Keegan's 1995) debut collection of short stories. brought her acclaim as one of the brightest new talents on the lrish literary scene. It might have been eight years in the making. but this follow-up will surely see more good notices arrive for her. At a little over 150 pages. Keegan is obwously not the most prolific of authors. Yet. while her work isn't characterised by volume. there's a precise. methodical sense of place and self here. as her words describe each character and their setting in evocative detail.
It's that which sets her apart; while the stories may be criticised for falling into certain cliched scenarios (farm girl abused by her father emigrates to America; priest ponders his affair
with a woman he's Just married off). Keegan's evocative prose takes you so far Within each story that your senses buzz afresh at them. (David Pollocki
ROMANCF DRAMA GENE WILDER My French Whore (Old Street Publishing) 0
With this slim slice of whimsy. legendary screen comedian Gene Wilder JOlllS the long and undistiiiguished list of famous names flattered into thinking they could dash off a book as a means of stringing out their dwindling celebrity while collecting a fast buck. It comes as little surprise to discover that My F/‘e/ icl i Whore started out life as a screenplay treatment. In the hands of Wilder's erstwhile collaborator Mel Brooks. the tall premise. of a bilingual WW2 private from Milwaukee captured in No Man's Land who
sun/ives by posing as a famous German spy. might have made an amusing farce.
Wilder. however. opts to play things straight. exchanging satire for cloying sentiment while skimping on such trifles as character development. credible dialogue and. indeed. point. From a man who spent the bqu of his professional life making people laugh. the most hilarious thing about his fiction debut is that he thinks people Will shell out for a hardback of 170 miserable. double- spaced pages.
(Allan Radcliffe‘i POSTMODERN ROMANCE JONATHAN LETHEM
You Don’t Love Me Yet (Faber) 0000
Jonathan Lethem's return to fictional stories of West Coast hipsters after the semi- autobiographical success of 2003's gritty East Coast-set The Fortress of Solitude is an exercise in style over substance. Politics. postmodern malaise and problems of the real world are set aside for a Great Gatsby-esqe frolic through the problems of being young and beautiful creative types where the only tragedy comes from . . . nope. there isn‘t any.
Songs are written and
gigs are played ar0und the lives of bass player Lucinda. her bandmates (ie sexual fodder), installation art and kangaroos. but the plot is incidental to the experience of the novel. Like all the best pop songs. it's sweet. seductive and fleeting. yet always underpinned with Lethem's expert musical knowledge. as he spins a slight stery of rocky relationships and rock star ambition into a whole of such coherent evocativeness that lesser writers (and that's the vast majority) should give up. (Suzanne Black)
LEGAL CASE KIERAN MCCARTHY
Sex.com (Ouercus) O.
Kieren McCarthy's Sexcom is like a long. laborious grind without the payoff of a money shot. It chronicles one of the most strung-Out. controversial legal battles in recent US
hist0ry. that between web entrepreneur Gary Kremen and notorious conman Stephen Cohen over ownership of the ‘sexcom' web domain. the ‘jewel in the internet's crown'.
With tens of millions of dollars at stake. and the burgeOning online porn industry as a backdrop. you'd think McCarthy couldn‘t fail to draw a compelling read from such seedy affairs. He seems obsessed. however. With the trials length rather than girth. opting to recount each claim. counter claim, twist and turn in detail over its 12 years. rather than attempting to fully explore its two intriguing combatants. one a crystal meth-addicted Stanford graduate. the other a genius career criminal. lt's meticulously researched and not without colour but ultimately succeeds in leaving you exhausted and unfulfilled.
(Malcolm Jack)
One Douala)“ 601.230"th
ALSO PUBLISHED
5 TRAVEL BOOKS
Basil Pao China Revealed The Hong Kong-based snapper. who has worked with Michael Palin, compiles a stunning visual portrait of China today. Weidenfe/d 8 Nico/son. Christopher Robbins In Search of Kazakhstan This book aims to kick Borat's theories into touch by showing that Kazakhstan is an entertaining and tolerant area. Profile. Dan Kieran / Fought the Law The co-author of Crap Towns jaunts across the UK to see how far he can stretch some of the more ridiculous Blair- imposed rules and regulations. Bantam. Byambasuren Davaa The Cave of the Yellow Dog This Oscar-nominated documentary-maker heads back to her native Mongolia to bring us a vision of life among its nomadic peOpIe. Virago.
Tom Chesshyre How Low Can You Go? This comic travelogue has the Times writer visiting the likes of Tampere, Kaunas and Brno on the very. very cheap. Hodder & Stoughton.
10 24 May 2007 THE LIST 27