list.co.uk/books COMIC
SUPERHERO COM IC MARK MILLAR & LEINIL FRANCIS YU Superior (Titan) ●●●●●
Glasgow writer Mark Millar has really picked up the pace on his creator- owned series over the last few years, but what’s more remarkable is how high the quality has remained. Wanted, Kick-Ass and Nemesis were action blockbusters but Superior offers a more poignant take on superhero tropes. As Millar points out, ‘superhero
stories are essentially wish-fulfillment fantasies’ and Superior takes that concept one step further as a 12-year- old boy with multiple sclerosis gets his ultimate wish and is turned into his idol, the Superman-like Superior. But what would a young boy do with these newfound powers? Especially when even the ability to walk again, let alone fly, is a massive transformation. And what if you want to take things further and end the conflict in the Middle East or feed the starving in Africa? It’s a lot for a child to comprehend. Superior obviously takes inspiration from Shazam! (Captain Marvel’s
alter ego is young lad Billy Batson) and packs an unexpectedly emotional punch, with Millar really capturing this wheelchair-bound boy’s desire to do good within his limited framework of how the world works. How and why he received these powers is almost irrelevant (and is perhaps the weakest element of the story) but it’s the way he reacts to this responsibility that gives Superior its heart. (Henry Northmore)
ALSO PUBLISHED MUSIC BOOKS
The next best thing to hearing a great record is then going on to read all about it. Unless you feel that analysing music in any way is akin to destroying the purity of the aural experience. If you’re of that opinion then best avoid this clutch of books. Richard King’s How Soon is Now? (Faber) has the nifty subtitle, ‘The Madmen and Mavericks Who Made Independent Music: 1975–2005’, which looks at the likes of Tony Wilson and Alan McGee (pictured) as we get the inside scoop of how bands from Aphex Twin to Arctic Monkeys and Orange Juice to Franz Ferdinand were able to flourish.
Rob Young has edited together No Regrets: Writing on Scott
Walker (Orion), whose career also blossomed on the edges of sanity. From glorious 60s pop to 2006’s The Drift which featured the sound of meat being punched and musings on Elvis chatting to his still-born twin, Walker’s work is, thankfully, like no other.
Martin C Strong’s The Great Folk Discography Volume 2: The Next Generation (Polygon) is a further example of his typically obsessively-detailed music bibles with entries on Billy Bragg, Midlake, Fleet Foxes, Nanci Griffith and the Proclaimers. Arguably the most eccentric- sounding music book of the year is Bernie Krause’s The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places (Profile) which explores natural soundscapes such as snapping shrimp, popping viruses and the songs of humpback whales as well as wind, rain and cracking glaciers. If you like this book, you will join an army of Krause fans that number David Bellamy, Terry Nutkins and Jacques Cousteau’s son. (Brian Donaldson)
EVENTS 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 29
Glasgow FREE International Women’s Day Poetry Book Launches CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 7pm. The Scottish Writers’ Centre launches poetry books by AC Clarke and Amy Anderson. Edinburgh FREE It’s Life Jimmy, But Not As We Know It National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 0844 557 2686. 10am–8pm. Explore the past, present and future of Scottish sci-fi writing at this exhibition running until Sun 15 Apr. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. FREE A Room with Our View Central Library, George IV Bridge, 242 8100. 10am–8pm. A poetry installation in which the objects in a bedroom have been printed with poetry by young writers. Running until Fri 27 Apr.
Friday 30
Edinburgh Neu! Reekie! Scottish Book Trust, Sandeman House Trunks Close 55 High Street, 524 0160. 7pm. £5 (£4). Avant- garde spoken word, film and music night. Guid Crack Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £3 suggested donation. The monthly storytelling session hosts an open floor Ceilidh Culture special. Part of Ceilidh Culture.
✽✽ Luath Off the Page Live City Café, 19 Blair Street, 228 1155.
8pm. £3 (£2). An evening of performance poetry, prose and music featuring Catriona Child, Alistair Findlay and many more. Part of Ceilidh Culture.
Saturday 31
Glasgow Leabhar’s Craic CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 10–midnight. £10 (daytime only £5; evening only £8). One- day festival of Gaelic literary culture, with highlights including a special celebration of poet and songwriter Aonghas MacNeacail, the launch of Margaret Callan’s new book and a headline show from Gaelic folk band The Seedboat (Bàta an t-Sìl), alongside much more theatre, music, film, workshops and readings. Edinburgh Nothing But the Poem Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 557 2876. 11am–12.30pm. £5 (£3). See Thu 29. Traveller Traditions Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 228 1155. 2pm. £30 (£26). Discover the story tradition of Scotland’s travelling people and pick up some tales and tips for re-telling with storyteller and writer Jess Smith. Part of Ceilidh Culture
Sunday 1
Glasgow ✽✽ Words Per Minute The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, 565 1000. 4–6pm. £5. Monthly spoken word, music, film and performance gig. This month they’re celebrating the ‘Special Relationship’ with writers from both sides of the pond: on Team USA, Jarred McGinnis, Ryan van Winkle and Sam Taradash; for the UK, it’s Elaine di Rollo, Billy Letford, Wayne Price, Rodge Glass and Caroline Bird.
Edinburgh Young Dawkins The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298. 8pm. £4 (£3). American beat poet who moved to
EVENTS Books
Edinburgh in 2005 and became Scottish Slam Poetry Champion in 2011. Monday 2
Edinburgh Madwomen in the Attic Ghillie Dhu, 2 Rutland Place, 0844 557 2686. 5.30–7pm. £10 (£8). Journalist Viv Parry, lecturer Sarah Dillon and psychiatrist Dr Raj Persaud attempt to diagnose some of literature’s most famous hysterical females. Ages 18+. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. FREE Blackwell Book Quiz Blackwells, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8201. 5.45pm. Test your literary credentials in teams of up to five. Wednesday 4
Glasgow ✽✽ Living Under the Gun: A Night of Poetry and Music for
Palestine CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 7.30pm. £13 (£10). Poetry from Liz Lochhead, Tom Leonard and Billy Letford, and folk music from Roy Bailey, Alasdair Roberts and Gillebride Macmillan, all in aid of Saor Phalastain’s Glasgow-Bethlehem cultural exchange. FREE Bring Me the Head of Ryan Giggs by Rodge Glass Mono, 12 Kings Court, King Street, 553 2400. 8pm. Launch event for the new novel by Glasgow writer. Word Play Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 8.30pm. £2. Open mic night with acoustic music, poetry and prose, hosted by The Word Factory.
Edinburgh On Extinction Ghillie Dhu, 2 Rutland Place, 0844 557 2686. 5.30–7pm. £10 (£8). In an event organised by Granta Books, science broadcaster Hermione Cockburn, poet Melanie Challenger and linguist Bernadette O’Rourke explore
he inaugural colonsay Book Festival:
Conversations @ he Edge
will run from the 27th- 29th of April as part of the month long – Festival of
Spring.
Authors attending include:
Alexander McCall Smith
Kenneth Steven James Robertson Sophie Cooke Liz Lochead
Margaret Elphinstone And whisky writer and musician Robin Laing.
For tickets sales visit:
http://www.spangleish.com/ ColonsayBookFestival/
e-mail: colonsaybookfestival@ hotmail.co.uk
Telephone: 01951 200067
29 Mar–26 Apr 2012 THE LIST 51