{BOOKS} Previews Top 5
AUTHORS ON TV
Think you know their faces? Chances are you’ve seen them on the telly. Brian Donaldson screens a familiar quintet
Lucy Worsley Delving into the intimate history of old homes and buildings is the prime passion of Worsley (pictured) and her BBC Four series and book If Walls Could Talk pretty much sums it up. During her years of research, she has uncovered the fact that bedrooms used to be semi-public places before the Victorians decreed them to be a place of sleeping and canoodling, while bathrooms only became separate rooms late into the Victorian era. 13 Aug, 5pm, £10 (£8). Bettany Hughes While Lucy Worsley is into old buildings, Hughes has made many docs about her chosen area, ancient history. The Moors, the Spartans and Helen of Troy have been the people she has fascinated us with on TV. 13 Aug, 3.30pm, £10 (£8).
Alexei Sayle It seems a very long time since ‘Hello John Got a New Motor?’ and his way-over- the-top ravings as the unhinged landlord Bolowski in The Young Ones. And that’s because it is. Nowadays he is a highly respected short-story writer and novelist who has written an engrossing autobiography entitled Stalin Ate My Homework. The title alone is near-genius. 13 Aug, 8pm, £10 (£8).
Kirsty Wark The esteemed broadcaster asks the questions in two major events. First up is an interview with short story writer and memoirist Tobias Wolff, while near the end of the month she shares a stage with Ingrid Betancourt, the presidential candidate who was held captive by Colombian guerrilla forces for six long years. 14 Aug, 3pm; 29 Aug, 4.30pm, £10 (£8).
Peter Taylor Former teacher Taylor has developed a reputation for hard-hitting and compelling journalism ever since joining ITV’s This Week back in 1967. While his work on Northern Ireland made him a familiar face on the small screen, he has been busy investigating Islamist extremism for the last decade. 16 Aug, 10.30am, £10 (£8).
30 THE LIST 11–18 Aug 2011
L A V I T S E F
CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE Name-shifting Scottish scribe retains his trademarks
When Christopher Brookmyre has three syllables thrown at him, he knows he’s done something wrong. Despite his full first-name appearing on every book jacket since his debut novel in 1997, those around Brookmyre have called him Chris for years. ‘I tend to be Christopher to my mum,’ he says, ‘or my wife when I’m in trouble.’ But now his fans can also call him by that more intimate moniker. Where the Bodies are Buried, Brookmyre’s 12th novel, was written by Chris, not Christopher.
While the decision to change was initially suggested by the jacket’s designer – ‘he thought it would look better’ – it also signals a slight change in tone for the author. His new work features poignant descriptions of the emotional scars left by bereavement, sitting tastefully alongside a more measured humour. Although as Brookmyre says, ‘It’s the wrong way round;
when I was being flippant I should have been Chris.’ Fans of Brookmyre’s trademark black humour,
twisting plotlines and likeable characters have not been disappointed, however, as Where the Bodies are Buried still has a healthy dollop of all three. Having introduced readers to a new set of characters, in particular the smart but sensitive police detective Catherine McLeod and rookie private investigator Jasmine Sharp, Brookmyre will be hoping for positive feedback from his Edinburgh Book Festival audience.
‘Although my new book is more serious, I’ve selected passages that have some degree of humour, but also introduce the two characters and their narrative voice,’ he says. ‘When you’re writing a book, you wait a long time for any kind of feedback, so when you get an instant response from an audience, it’s quite reassuring. And if you’re getting laughter back, you know you’re hitting the spot.’ (Kelly Apter) ■ 16 Aug, 8pm, £10 (£8).
CAITLIN MORAN A self-deprecating take on womanhood
With Germaine Greer’s recent Newsnight debacle dragging the feminist cause kicking and screaming back to the dark days, it’s time to hail the new messiah: Caitlin Moran. Not for nothing has this Brighton-born writer impressed. Aged just 15, the young Moran had already picked up The Observer’s Young Reporter award, going on to write for it and sister title The Guardian; by 18 she was writing a column for The Times and fast becoming a TV presenter to watch. Almost two decades on, Moran has created a
best-selling book out of ‘issues’ with her memoir- cum-pondering on lady life, How to Be a Woman. Instead of harping on like some strangulated feminist manifesto, Moran opts here for the jugular, reminiscing about her council estate upbringing and her first experiences with boys, alongside wonderings on what to call your vagina.
Plus, there’s an array of other surprisingly funny and bizarrely revelatory ditties as she laments the journey from pre-pubescence to womanhood. Applauded for being ‘laugh-out-loud funny’ (it is), this is self-deprecation and witty reflection at its finest. (Anna Millar) ■ 14 Aug, 12.30pm, £10 (£8).