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COMEDY BIOGRAPHY SARAH SILVERMAN The Bedwetter (Faber) ●●●●●
There’ve been plenty of reasons to be slightly scornful of Sarah Silverman’s rise to infamy. With a demeanour which suggested that butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth (usually because there was no room to fit both butter and all those potty words), Silverman seemed to get away with saying all kinds of outrageous stuff because either: a) she is considered a hottie in an ugly male industry or b) see ‘a’. Perhaps her eponymously-titled TV show and the performance movie Jesus is Magic were holding back her true genius or in fact all she really had in her locker was a gleefully rude song about Matt Damon. Then there was her disastrous UK live debut when she was booed off the Hammersmith Apollo stage for concluding that her audience should be rewarded with 40 minutes’ material for a 50 quid outlay.
All that said, her memoir (subtitled ‘Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee’) is a massively likeable, occasionally moving and often hilarious account of a weird childhood in New Hampshire with a dad who encouraged her to cuss in public at the age of four while her almost nightly habit of soiling her sheets took many years to subside. There are tales of death (her beloved nan, a sibling she never knew and the suicide of her shrink) and many swipes at her own ‘Jewiness’, as we follow her progress from shy outsider to America’s number one female comic, all with the benefit of not being accompanied by that slightly whiny, faux- coquettishness that is her stage persona. (Brian Donaldson)
SURREAL TALE DBC PIERRE Lights out in Wonderland (Faber) ●●●●● The third novel from Booker-winner DBC Pierre promises vivid, unthinkable decadence, but delivers a self- absorbed quarter-life crisis. Chronicling the alleged end days of suicidal pamphleteer Gabriel Brockwell – wannabe miscreant, anti-capitalist zealot and an unwittingly droll ‘compulsive philosopher’ – Lights out in Wonderland unravels via modern-day London, Tokyo and Berlin, as our
hapless 25-year-old protagonist tries to score a final night of sin. His endeavours, however, are thwarted by a poison blowfish, an incarcerated chef and a generally serpentine plot that is studded with drugs, revelations and
diamonds. It’s a colourful tale, if a bit overblown – Pierre’s culinary imagination is particularly fertile – and while not especially original or profound, the ‘poet’ Brockwell’s earnest footnotes on hangovers and energy are modestly enlightening. There’s a vaguely teenage diary feel about the book’s confidential narrative (see Brockwell’s comparison of his hair with the ‘dying wave of capitalism’) making this strangely akin to Adrian Mole feigning Hunter S Thompson. (Nicola Meighan)
EXPERIMENTAL DRAMA ROBERT ALAN JAMIESON Da Happie Laand (Luath) ●●●●● We imagine Robert Alan Jamieson spent a lot of noggin-aching days and nights trying to work out how to match what he accomplished with A Day at the Office, the 1991 novel regarded by many as one of the greatest Scottish works of all time. But the Edinburgh-based author makes a superb stab at it with his latest offering, which combines a compelling modern mystery with 500 years of history in a typically experimental style that leaves many of his contemporaries lagging.
Da Happie Laand is far from easy to digest, and wading through its pages of correspondence, ‘Vikipedia’ facts, crossed-out paragraphs and creole language interviews can at times be an overwhelming experience, but by weaving in a poignant first person account of one man’s search for his missing father, Jamieson achieves something quite extraordinary. And it’s the sheer scope of his writing and what it achieves for his native Shetland that leaves the biggest impression here. (Camilla Pia) CELEBRITY MEMOIR VIDAL SASSOON Vidal: The Life and Times of a Style Icon (Macmillan) ●●●●●
Vidal Sassoon was once called ‘the Chanel of hair’ by his friend Mary Quant. While she was upping skirt lengths during the 60s, he was busy revolutionising attitudes to hair. He thought back combing, hairspraying and spaceman-helmet hairdryers were stuffy and outdated, and pushed the idea of
Reviews Books ALSO PUBLISHED
5 CRIME DRAMAS Linwood Barclay Never Look Away When a suicidal woman is reported missing by her hubbie, things look bleak. But when CCTV footage fails to capture her, suspicion falls back on him. Orion. Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström Three Seconds A Swedish crime-writing duo of a journo and ex-crim combine for this tale of an undercover cop whose drug deal goes horrendously awry. Quercus. Mandasue Heller The Driver On a rough housing estate, hard man Eddie Quinn has made Joe Weeks an offer he can’t refuse. But when Weeks then takes kindly to a prostitute who needs to escape Quinn, all hell is set to break free. Hodder. Alex Dryden The Blind Spy The author of Moscow Sting delivers another spy thriller about two secret agents who are trying to block an invasion of the Ukraine by Russia. Headline. RJ Ellory Saints of New York NYPD cop Frank Parrish is trying his darndest to live up to the reputation of his old man, a legendary detective who worked to rid the city of Mafia control in the 1980s. Shame Parrish Jnr is under scrutiny by Internal Affairs. Orion.
There’s an easy flow in Daren White’s writing that sucks you in and fully rounds out his characters, subtly hooking you in and investing emotion into the story. The fantastic Eddie Campbell (From Hell, Alec), a frequent collaborator with White, is the perfect illustrator, keeping events grounded in realism while capturing the sentiment and pace of the narrative. (Henry Northmore)
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minimal, geometric, fuss-free styles instead. Sassoon’s (non-ghost written) memoirs begin with his childhood in London’s east end, where he was raised in an orphanage. Besides tracing the empire- owner’s career path – he was fired from various salons, or in one case stormed out after throwing his scissors in the air – he also recalls his time fighting in the newly- formed Israel, after being raised by a Zionist mother. It’s a colourful read,
and clearly the 82-year- old still has a twinkle in his eye. Although he glosses over his life’s low points, he delivers hours of chutzpah- laced tales about showbiz pals like Michael Caine and ‘Terry’ Stamp, bolstered by his views on architecture, photography and fashion. (Claire Sawers)
NARRATIVE COMIC EDDIE CAMPBELL & DAREN WHITE The Playwright (Knockabout) ●●●●●
The Playwright is perhaps unusual compared with so many comics, being simply a gentle character study of a middle-aged writer. There’s no grand story arch, just a dip into someone’s life, examining their foibles and opening up their psyche. Our eponymous central character is successful but lonely, his mind drifting into innocent sexual fantasy as his life seems to pass him by, constantly yearning for closer human contact. He’s shy and flawed but entirely human.