Festival Books
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WILLIAM GIBSON Godfather of cyberpunk dabbles in low-life aesthetics
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lief.'reer1'eai‘, rli'"l":/,ff:it‘.lf/l’CONN/Sf: at the ml of WA oo.'.e'fii;. l: .er‘ no. there are e'io ; if eorrfeinporiir, ’Xillft',‘,r’)llfI‘:'l’,‘:'. ?(l 'llrtkf: fll‘: '2’;.f:" llllllltrlllétffJ. .vlth a‘xant garde iniisleial‘w turned Jourrralixt Hollis llenr, noun/ling like a lllffll'flf1f of Gibson acolytes Sonic Youth even while 11‘) higllfeml loss life aesthetic retains the nourishing elements that turned him into a
mainstream author
Most <;on‘.pelling of all is Spook (Shunt/i 's status as unfinished. interactive fiction. Google many of the specific artefacls referred to in its pages
such as the Adidas GSGEl, christened for the German (?()lllllf)t'l()ll()l|8lll squad and ‘the obvious choice for the thinking man's hinia' and you'll discover threads leading to and from Gibson's website. readers tracing his electronic footprints and finding additional layers of meaning. The future is already out there, you gust need to know where to look, itlay Richardsohi Recommended Reading: i‘Veuro/hanirer popularised the term 'cyberspai‘e”.
I Aug. fprn, 3‘8 il‘b‘i.
DT MAX Offering a cultural history of prion diseases
Three things compelled DT Max to set about writing The Farm/l that Cou/dh't Sleep, Firstly. as a science writer for the New Ybrker and New Yerk Times. he had an interest in prions. the rogue proteins behind mad cow disease. The second was personal: he has a degenerative condition caused by the failure of his body's proteins to fold properly. The third was the remarkable stem of a condition that affects an extended Venetian family whose members. at a certain age. become incapable of sleep and. Within a year. die Of insomnia.
'The book is a Cultural and sclentific histOry of prion diseases' says Max.
‘lt's also a llghly empathetic look at If»; lives of a single Italian farnil, afflicted with an unimaginanydreadful disease One of the goals .s to show resilient we all are; eyen when ,oh'rc- dealt the worst hand imaginable. .' .. manage to live a fairly full Irfe.‘ Man. readers have warmed to the book's perspective on death. others i’.: its investigation of sleep 'We know si, l'iili: about sleep_' he says. 'lt's as if we rus’. wrote off eight hours a day as being to» burdensome to explore! livile l isiieri Recommended Reading: Best American SUD/let? lV’Il/llf} (“lit/(i features his essay on ‘Iiterary DarWinism'.
I Pb‘Aug, Ila/n, 5‘7 if‘fii.
MARTHA KEARNEY
Six decades of Woman’s Hour
Earlier this year. a few weeks after starting her new Job as presenter of Radio is The World at One. Martha Kearney brought some home- made biscuits and honey into the studio and thought to herself. 'this feels very l/Voman's Hour.‘ And while it's true that the programme she used to work for isn't averse to the odd recrpe. it has llll the (it) years since it launched) become a seriously Influential part of the media landscape. covering everything from key political matlms to post-vase<:li’>my pain. One minute the team Will be talking to Aung San Suu Kyi about her plight: the next they'll be gui/xrng Dane Cameron on his choice of undergarments.
Kearney reckons its wide reach and G\()lllilOll has kept it \ital and popular. “It's one of those programmes you wOuIdn't invent now as there'd be an outCry' she says. “it's been so successful because it's an entertaining
64 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 23 Aug—d Sep 2037
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KIDS EVENTS Scares and celebrities dominate the final week
Tv’lf:'.‘. 7" t, ‘- 1' I-r.':' ' .' as Night of he Living Horror . ' flaryi‘e” .'." ,l‘ ,z ' ' ' ‘ ‘ ’ir;f"‘:, fie" .'° '1' w ‘;-- " . thong" I; " r i" :'
Vampirates :8” .: .: " . sounds i, £1l" :a‘f Grizzly Tales of Nasty Little Beasts . " . ;
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TOP 5 BBC BRUISERS
Think BBC, think fake phone- ins. Or maybe you think top notch presenters and correspondents with a vast intellectual weight behind them. Here's a quintet who will be trampling on the daisies in Charlotte Square Gardens Jeremy Paxman Vi» ' ' If l-"i-W as ea"? g‘i t,‘l-" ' contract f'iat reat :-- ltlllr' whether Just trip we: 1 We went awn; but Pai was r " iinly stuflei’l a politic. i ll: "' oz. .96 And, 'T oil/pm. :"r' mi. Clarissa Dickson Wright Another Beep lrriiiser UNI-J .'.’( mild regularly we’f dowi‘ a .hrgetim't before lllllfif‘i‘i‘lllt‘ lietorw ,' if rill") around the natrv'. in a fill itort NH: as one half of the Mo la! la . Big Kenny Rodi -r:, fan. you ki .v. LUV-lug, f, fill/1n 5"", «E'b. Jeremy Bowen Another new Je'ern, flail .'.i7."e it (l‘:'llf‘:l if iiirl and we 3’)l“i}tl‘»'7'1frltlliflfjffilli‘,’ fU/x’ on his face, He may haze faced bombs and gunfire u some of the most laosfde spit. it"..")‘ '. the globe, but his breakf rut so‘a nianrle' «Called to "Will the sympathetic lll(:(f1(,, £1") AM}. {5.30pm. 51'? rf‘fji.
Kate Adie llie dr ,erlne of war reportmg was say/aged With little effect by the likes of Norman lebbrl back in the 8st .‘.’fll;'l the likes of him were bombing the bejesus out of Libya With Adie (Iftllfl’l to report the facts on the ground. Not to be messed with L’Q'Aug. «twp/n, 5.7 ff.fo
Penny Junor She might as though butter wouldn't mr-lt unthin a hundred paws of her. but the w- Trave/ Show: presenter hasn't been afraid to buck the trend by shoning Diana Spencer in a less than hale- like light in some of her regal biography work. Might not be on Eric Clapton's Cllflelliaf) card list after hooking up Wllh Pattie Boyd. the lady who inspired ‘La/la'. on her life story. 23 Aug. 8. ’30pm. {‘8 (538).
Chris Ryan . ‘
Recommended Reading:
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