www.list.co.uk/books
COLLECTED WRITINGS VARIOUS
Spirit of Jura (Polygon) 00.
While various coffee houses of the Scottish capital have taken credit for providing the caffeine-fuelled watershed for JK Rowling’s career, few places have such literary resonance as Jura. The iconic isle was the isolated spot where George Orwell, fresh from the wartime notoriety of Animal Farm, holed himself up to write Nineteen Eighty-Four, the masterpiece which turned out to be his swansong. Cloaked under the birthname anonymity of Eric Blair, he dragged his pencil-thin moustache and TB-strewn skeletal frame to the abandoned Barnhill farmhouse with his sister Avril and an aspirant author called Paul Potts in tow (he was believed to have fled in an understandable huff when one of his manuscripts was used to light the fire), while his adopted son Richard joined him some time later. This collection gathers up the fiction, essays, drawings and poems which have been produced by writers and artists who followed his journey having been granted the freedom to create magic in
the lodge.
Janice Galloway (pictured) and the late Bernard Crick, provide chapters which evocatively peer into Orwell's experiences on the island while Will Self offers up a typically verbose and entertainingly meandering detail of his time writing in remote locales. Philip Gourevitch delivers a straight prose about a jaded war reporter and there are poetic deliberations from Liz Lochhead and Kathleen Jamie. Though there is plenty to savour here (and a book on Jura can’t ignore the overall whiskeyness of the place), there is little that could be hailed as spectacular. Perhaps the spectre of Orwell and the haunting foreshadowing he produced ultimately intimidated
rather than kickstarted the muse. (Brian Donaldson)
MODERN HISTORY AVID AARONOVITCH
Voodoo Histories (Jonathan Cape)
.000
Pearl Harbour was engineered by FDR so America could enter World War II. Princess Di
DAVID AAIONOVITCII
J
was bumped off by Ml6. And 9/11 was the master plot of a Wicked
American administration.
All because TV documentaries. the internet or some bloke down the pub told us so. But they're simply wrong, as the empirical evidence isn't there. and more often than not. neither is the logic. Yet. simply debunking conspiracy theories isn't journalist David Aaronovitch's only goal. He also examines the long view of their role in modern history and explores their psychology. a mixture of hysteria. paranOia. stubborn incredulity and
simple stupidity.
Quite the opposrte of conspiracy theories. Voodoo Histories isn't sexy; it's a weighty. heavily-researched tome that largely reSists condescendingly rubbishing the ramblings of loonies. Aaronovitch actually finds room to Suggest that conspiracy theories — while undoubtedly danger0us - may even have a semi-valuable sooal function as a levee against indifference. More instantly gratifying is the arsenal of factual ammunition he prowdes for shooting down know-it-all pub bores. (Malcolm Jacki
SHDP' STORES PETER WILD (ED)
Paint a Vulgar Picture: Fiction Inspired by The Smiths
(Serpents Ta... 0.. 775130! a ‘ wtgarl :. tin-
- :- lii in ms; 1. _. l. t . The Smiths
These short story collections of Peter Wild‘s are certainly well deSigned for grabbing fans' irriaginations. He gets a fistful of contemporary writers to extrapolate from the songs of a [)ZlfllClllall‘, iconic band With The Fall and Sonic Youth haying preViously received the treatment. Now it's the turn of The Smiths. But those who expect a mirror to be held up to the artist's psyche might be disappouited.
James Flint places his tale of aardvark~hunting — “Shoplifters of the World Unite' — in the southern USA and not Africa (judging by the dialect). while 'Death of a Disco Dancer' is set in hipster 808 Miami where we find a pair of cops knowingly named Rodgers and Edwards (up y0urs, M02. and your refusal to 'get' discol. Precrsely how these are supposed to fit in With Morrissey's Original intent for the songs is unknown.
Yet the presence of muSiCian-author Willy Vlautin, the ever- excellent Chris Killen and the editor's Own faithful-in-spirit 'Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours' (no ‘A' at the start?) affirm this book as a fine prose collection. if not Quite the perfect tribute. (Dayld Pollock)
SOCIAL DRAMA COLM TOIBIN
Brooklyn (Viking) O...
Times are tough in Enniscorthy. a small )Ob' scarce town in the south-east of Ireland where idle 9053p and parish dances are the only entertainment on
offer for the 1, oung and restless. lnstantk likeable leading lady Eilis Lacey 's life is turned upside down, howmer. when a USIIIHQ priest offers her work in Brooklyn and she makes the long trip overseas to start afresh.
This sixth noxel from award-‘.*.tinning scribe Colm Toibin is a warmly written tale of longing, loss and true love alongside the strains of Juggling personal freedom and family duty in the lQSOs. In the past. TOibin has been heavrly praised for his emotiOnal depth and beautiful way With words and Brook/w is no different. Here, he takes the reader on an all- consuming. poignant (Ourney. as Lacey attempts to find her way in an unyielding and often unforgiVing time. (Camilla Pia)
COMICS ANTHOLOGY VARIOUS
New British Comics No 1 (wwwpolygobookscom «(newbritishcomics) CO.
New British Comics does exactly what yOu'd expect by gathering together a selection of up-and-coming comics talent. With a particularly strong Scottish showmg. Don't let the admittedly striking Tim Rees cover fool you: this isn‘t superhero or even action-orientated. Spanning everything from Greek mythology to urban nOir, it's a stylistically mixed bag. With this ihCOhSistency
.1; NEW BRIT/SH -« yr a /
also at‘t‘ivr‘g to 'ts Quail“
Highlights include Date Thomson's J'Tltlsihg SCz-fi tale 'Brownhax es". Malcv Duff is as esoteric as ex er With ‘lnside the Ice Cream Van'. Paul O'Connell's ‘The Child Molester‘ manages to be unsettling over just one page. Daniel Lot‘ke's 'No WOrd of a Lie ' is a strangely effecting unlocked memon and Dan White QIVOS us a wonderfully twisted children's story in 'Jackie Goes to Hell‘. We won't name names but some of the other contributions are naive. pointless and childish, however this anthology is still well worth checking out.
(Henry Northmore)
ALSO PUBLISHED
5 PAPERBACK BIOGRAPHYS John Peel The Olivetti Chronicles Chosen by Peely's wife and kids. this mix of early journalism. diaries. letters and odds ‘n' sods pretty much amounts to a second memoir. Corgi. Rlcherd Medeley Father and Sons Judy's fella turned to a distinctly non- showbiz theme for his solo debut with this tale of his far from idyllic childhood. Pocket.
Stephen Robinson 7779 Remarkable Life of Bill Deedes An authorised yet revelatory biog of the newspaper man which, it was agreed. should be published only after his death. Abacus.
Den Methewe Committed Vice Pres of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) delivers the irreverent story of his often outlandish career. Duckworth. Joe Power The Man Who Sees Dead People The Soouse medium tells how he submitted to his psychic abilities after the murder of his brother and how he's worked on investigations ever since. Penguin.
14—28 May 2009 THE LIST 33