www.list.co.uk/books
His dark materials
‘THE SEX STOPS ABRUPTLY BUT IT'S STILL ABOUT FETISH AND OBSESSION'
Featuring ghost giraffes, sexualised toys and talking Christmas decorations, the books of Daren King inhabit odd places. A nervous Doug Johnstone peers in
aren King lives in a strange world. Not in real I people, and it creates its tension by pitching naive life. you understand. for there he lives in
Dublin because of the generous tax breaks for writers. which is perfectly normal and not at all strange. No. the strangeness of Daren King is in his head and on the page. Since the publication of his first book. Box-y An Star, in NW). the young English novelist has delivered a string of adult and children’s books which have created weird and disturbing
universes. worlds which blend characters full of
innocence with darker. troubling undercurrents.
Boxy An Star told the story of two third-generation pill-poppers. Bole and Star. who are so mashed they can't work out how to cook or fend for themselves. His follow-up. Jim Giraffe. featured a sexually advanced ghost giraffe living in a wardrobe. His books for kids (Mouse Noses on Toast. for example) are brimming with anarchic humour and freakishly imagined scenarios. And that trend continues with his fourth adult novel. Manual, featuring Michael and Patsy, a dysfunctional couple who provide sexual fetish services along with Patsy‘s pet (stuffed toy) owl. When middle-aged married man Edward hires them to escort him and his l5-year-old girlfriend Baby Girl. things get considerably weirder, but not how you might expect.
‘lt starts off about something sexual, but then the sex all stops abruptly.’ says King. ‘But it’s still about the same themes, about fetish and obsession. I didn’t have a moral point to tnake. but I thought it was an interesting theme to explore.’ Like all of King’s work. Manual is about the blurred line between fantasy and reality, the internal and external forces at work on
protagonists into dangerous surroundings. ‘lt‘s always a good contrast. to have dark themes in tandem with innocent characters. but it‘s not something I‘ve thought about consciously.’ he claims.
Each of Manual’s four main characters is delusional in their own way. and full of their own idiosyncratic obsessions. but it all somehow hangs together as a whole. thanks to Kings skills at characterisation. ‘Every character in the book is projecting things onto
other people.‘ he says. ‘If you look at the plot. a lot of
the motivations of the characters don’t make sense until you understand their psychology. They all have different fantasies which fit together.‘
The naivety of King’s characters is not reflected in his own personality. When I ask if he was surprised that his debut was praised to the rooftops and nominated for the prestigious Guardian First Book Award. he says this: ‘I wasn’t surprised. I‘ve always been very confident about my writing. That sounds really arrogant. and maybe it is. bu if you read any of these books on how to be successful in life. these people didn’t even think about failure. I‘m like that. I never considered that I might not be successful.‘
One ambition which remains unfulfilled is to have a film made of one of his books. Photographer Rankin owns the rights to Roxy/1,1 Star and a script is currently being developed. ‘l.ast I heard they were casting. but who knows‘?‘ says King. ‘1 hope it happens.‘ Judging by his success already. it surely will.
Manual is published by Faber on Thu 5 Jun.
THE BEST BOOKS, COMICS & EVENTS
lIST >l<
* Ghrlstophor Brookmyro The writer with an array of fine book titles to his name pops by to chat about Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks. See what i mean? Waterstone's, Glasgow, Mon 9 Jun.
SI! Charla Blair The former PM’s missus appears in this halloWed place to discuss her autobiography, which has no doubt caused a stir or two at Number 10. Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, Wed 11 Jun.
* Janet Paisley Get yourself a fascinating insight into the life and work of the White Rose Rebel author, who is not from Paisley, by the way. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, Thu 5 Jun.
3|! Daron King With Manual, King is back to break us down with more musings on the twisted side of life. See preview, left. Faber.
1! Simon Critchloy in The Book of Dead Philosophers, Critch peers into the murky world of the great (and not so great) thinkers and their terribly sad (and some not so sad) exits from life. See review, page 40. Granta.
3|! Mark Watson After a couple of neat novels, the Welsh-English comic takes things a bit more seriously (yeah, right) to talk about green politics in Crap at the Environment, a hilariously potent analysis of how tough it is to decrease the old carbon footprint. See review. page 40. Hodder & Stoughton.
II! Jopll Loob a. Tim Sale You shouldn’t read this when you’re angry, but Hulk: Grey has the unjolly green giant going ape in his early days. See review, page 41. Marvel.
5—19 Jun 2008 THE LIST 39