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list.co.uk/books Reviews | BOOKS
NON-FICTION AMANDA PALMER The Art of Asking (Piatkus) ●●●●●
There are many things that Amanda Palmer is not afraid to ask for. Wedding gowns, advice on angry red thigh spots and pianos are all just a tweet away for the self-identified rock star; but when she asked for money to help fund her new record, she inadvertently found herself at the centre of a discussion surrounding art and money. When is it OK to ask for help, and what is it OK to a sk for?
In this frank portrait of the performer and musician’s life and career, Palmer details the things she has needed in order to make it to this point, and why it was that she asked for them. These vary from the dollar bills she busked for while working as an eight-foot bride statue, to a loan from her husband Neil Gaiman. Some were easier to ask for than others, but she makes a point of giving back, be it with a flower, a song or a repaid loan.
Ultimately, it was her Kickstarter campaign that shone the spotlight on Palmer’s methods. Having been dropped by her label, she turned to the crowdfunding site to help put out her next record. The basic premise is that the public pledge money and she produces the goods, allowing her to work more directly with mutually adoring fans. Palmer eventually hit the million dollar mark, and has since been invited to deliver a TED talk about the venture. This autobiographical work of anecdotes and musings is an extension of that talk, exploring her journey to that six-figure sum and beyond. It is starkly honest and beautifully written. At times the narrative’s message feels somewhat laboured, but that might simply be because Palmer is drilling the idea home: if you need it, try asking. (Rebecca Monks)
CRIME THRILLER PHILIP KERR January Window (Head of Zeus) ●●●●●
Edinburgh born-and-raised crime author Philip Kerr has certainly cottoned on to a worthy and unexplored setting for the genre, against the backdrop of English Premier League football. He’s taken the murkiest aspects of the game – the oligarch owners with one foot in the political, the arrogant boy-children with money lavished upon them, the excesses of partying and sexual bad behaviour – and wrapped them up into an overdriven vehicle which tests the bounds of believability.
Chief among the many unlikelihoods here is that the hard-living Scott Manson, coach at London City Football Club, would be tasked with trying to find the killer of his club’s manager. It’s a novel clearly in love with the game’s politics, and Kerr dives into them in pacy fashion, exploring the club and its characters with relish.
Yet his decision to tell the story in Manson’s first-person voice lends the wordy text an info-dump quality, with his amateur sleuth / coach taking second place to chiselling away at the mystery. (David Pollock)
FAMILY DRAMA AMY MASON The Other Ida (Cargo) ●●●●● Her mother’s funeral is the tipping point for Ida Irons. Fast approaching 30, reckless with alcohol and decisions, she has spent her life living in the shadow of her mother – the secretive writer Bridie Adair – and her infamous play which she was named after. Ida must return to the family she left behind, and try to survive what she suspects will be a horrendous ordeal. Fractured family ties and flashbacks craft a picture of what brought Ida and her sister Alice to this point, while also revealing who their mother really was. Amy Mason’s novel has just won the Dundee International Book Prize, and she certainly knows how to connect the reader to her characters. Despite Ida’s emotional damage and brash attitude, she incites a fierce desire to understand her troubles and discover a real place in the world. Far from the tough and uncaring exterior she presents after her mother’s death, her story is a warm journey of soul- searching in a world where everyone thinks they know you. Mason digs deeper behind her bravado with such charm that it makes The Other Ida difficult to put down. (Heather McDaid)
FICTION FAVEL PARRETT When the Night Comes (Sceptre) ●●●●● DYSTOPIAN NOVEL WILLIAM GIBSON The Peripheral (Viking) ●●●●●
The split narrative of Favel Parrett’s second novel follows the stories of Bo, a chef on board the polar vessel Nella Dan, and Isla, the daughter of the woman with whom he stays in Hobart when the ship docks. Through this simple relationship she explores a family’s tie to the sea, and a community’s bond with a ship. Given how swiftly the world and its technological tools keep changing, it might seem foolhardy to attempt any kind of speculative fiction. But if anyone is going to make a decent fist of this with a crystal ball, it was always going to be the author of science fictions such as the cyberpunk landmark and internet precursor, Neuromancer.
The main character is Nella Dan But not content with ruminating
herself, who controls the lives of her crew and those left on shore. But Parrett never portrays her as a cruel mistress. Instead she’s respected as an intrepid mother figure and symbol of camaraderie and adventure. The novel’s imagery is beautifully
vivid; whether Parrett is depicting the hostile landscape of the vast Antarctic seas or the simple act of cracking walnuts, she invokes a vivid sense of place with brevity of language. The thoughtfulness of the two introverted narrators and the often scant dialogue creates a sense of foreboding throughout. Tragic accidents create a narrative of loss that culminates in a poignant story where only the sea is permanent. (Rowena McIntosh)
on one future, William Gibson uses The Peripheral to cast his eye simultaneously on the near-future (in the rural USA) and 70 years hence (in a shiny London) as the lives of female gamer Flynne and male celebrity- minder Wilf clash and burn with hardboiled murder at the heart of it all. The constant switching from one story to the next in brief blink-and-you-miss- it chapters might be a reflection on our blindingly impatient culture, but it’s disorientating and mildly irritating. The white hot heat of technology
might be cranked up to scorching, but Gibson’s new novel, as impressive, ambitious and layered as it is, might leave you feeling a little lukewarm. (Brian Donaldson)
13 Nov–11 Dec 2014 THE LIST 47