list.co.uk/books COMIC
GRAPHIC NOVEL METAPHROG Louis: Red Letter Day (Metaphrog) ●●●●● A year after the publication of the fifth Louis book, Night Salad, the Glasgow-based writer-illustrator partnership Metaphrog celebrates a decade of their series of graphic novels for kids and adults. To mark the event, Scot John Chalmers and French expat Sandra Marrs bring us this reissue of the first Louis book
from 2000, complete with entirely redrawn and repainted artwork. For those unfamiliar with Louis, he’s a pudgy, baby-faced working
man-child who lives with his companion, a blue mechanical bug named FC, in a suburban community. Louis spends his working day filling bottles with air, his leisure time writing to aunts who don’t exist and the time in between being baited by his troublemaking neighbours.
Louis’ day-to-day life is a touch surreal, which is one of the
distinguishing features of the series. There’s also a dark vein of humour that contrasts its imaginative protagonist’s charming daydream life with a wicked parody of the pointlessness of daily labour and the unfairness of life in general. That humour strikes a surprisingly bittersweet note at the book’s blackly comic downbeat conclusion. Much of the above may be lost on youngsters but should tickle older readers, which leads one to conclude that Metaphrog’s idiosyncratic graphic novels are for readers of all ages that share a certain sardonic disposition. (Miles Fielder)
ALSO PUBLISHED NEW YEAR PAPERBACKS
EVENTS Books
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 16 days before publication to books@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Laura Ennor. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Thursday 15
Edinburgh ✽✽ FREE PlayGroup Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 11.30am–1.30pm. The regular script discussion group discusses Hot 100 entrant Jo Clifford’s adaptation of Faust, ahead of a matinee performance (members get discounted tickets) of her newest critical triumph, The Tree of Knowledge.
Wednesday 21
Glasgow ✽✽ FREE Short and Sweet Glasgow Women’s Library, Mitchell
Library, 15 Berkeley Street, 248 9969. 2pm. It’s no coincidence that Wed 21 Dec is National Short Story Day – not only is it the shortest day, it’s also a great time of year for snuggling up with a favourite story by a female writer at the library. Bring yours along and listen to others’ at this special event. Booking essential.
Edinburgh Café Voices Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 7–9pm. £4. Linda Bandelier presents a Christmas Carols edition of the relaxed monthly storytelling sessions.
Friday 16 Thursday 22
Livingston ✽✽ West Lothian Write! Howden Park Centre, Howden, 01506
777666. 7pm. £3 (performers free). An evening of poetry, readings and storytelling, hosted by Magi Gibson and featuring West Lothian writers. Those who would like to perform should prepare a piece of at least six minutes, and inform the Box Office on booking.
Saturday 17
Edinburgh ✽✽ FREE Ian Rankin Signing Waterstone’s George Street, 83
George Street, 225 3436. 1–2pm. Rankin signs copies of his new novel The Impossible Dead.
✽✽ FREE Laundry Night with Charles Stross Pulp Fiction, 43 Bread Street, 229 4444. 3–4.30pm. Free (ticketed). Author Charles Stross reads a preview section from his new novel, The Apocalypse Codex, the four in his Laundry series, before a Q&A session chaired by local writer and critic Andrew J Wilson and finally a signing.
Monday 19 Glasgow FREE Building Blocs Bloc+, 117 Bath Street, 574 6066. 8.30pm–3am. An eclectic evening of music, comedy and spoken word from the Cheeky Breakfast crowd.
Ron Butlin
Glasgow Scottish Writers’ Centre Winter Party CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 7–10pm. £5 (members free). The Scottish Writers’ Centre hosts a party for members and anyone else interested in hearing a few songs and readings, meeting and chatting with writers, and enjoying a drink or two.
Edinburgh ✽✽ FREE Inky Fingers Open Mic The Third Door, 45–47 Lothian
Street, 225 6313. 7pm. A fresh platform for people who love words. Email ahead (inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com) for a chance to perform.
Tuesday 27 Glasgow FREE Reading the Leaves Tchai- Ovna House of Tea, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. Poetry and storytelling.
Thursday 5
Glasgow FREE Poetry Discussion Group Mitchell Library, North Street, 287 2999. 6–7pm. Lively and informal discussions of poetry on the first Thursday of every month.
✽✽ FREE Scottish Writers’ Centre presents Ron Butlin, In
Process CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 7pm. See caption, below.
With cash at a premium during this time of year, a good way to satisfy your bookish needs might be to catch up on some of 2011’s most intriguing reads in flippy flappy paperback form. Pigeon English (Bloomsbury) brought debutant Stephen Kelman (pictured) a Booker nomination while introducing us to Harrison Opoku, an 11-year-old Ghanaian who slowly comes to realise that danger is afoot on his south London housing estate.
Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalists (Windmill) won her the esteemed Scotiabank Giller Prize. The novel ambitiously links the flooding of an Ontario town, the Vietnam War, a trailer in North Dakota and an unfinished boat in Maine. China Miéville’s Embassytown (Pan) is a gripping tale of alien contact and military conflict, while Do No Harm (Penguin) by Carol Topolski features the dark secrets that often lurk behind ordinary lives.
The Psychopath Test (Picador) from Jon Ronson was well covered in this publication during the summer, but no harm in reminding you once more of this author’s skill in delving among some tough subjects with a light hand. Here, he analyses the madness industry, along the way speaking to the likes of MI5 whistleblower turned transvestite 9/11 Truther David Shayler, ruthless businessman Al Dunlap, and Tony, a man who faked insanity to get a lighter sentence for assault only to be locked up in Broadmoor for over a decade. Scary stuff. (Brian Donaldson)
The Scottish Writers’ Centre launches its new series of events offering insight into the craft of writing with Edinburgh Makar Ron Butlin. Poetry, novels and opera could well be on the agenda this evening as we get tips and wisdom from the author whose Sound of My Voice was described by Irvine Welsh as ‘one of the greatest pieces of fiction to come out of Britain in the 80s’. ■ CCA, Glasgow, Thu 5 Jan. 15 Dec 2011–5 Jan 2012 THE LIST 69