Me And My Big Mouth

Quick Flick: Marcus Aurelius

Fans of the Meditations may well want to read more about the notable and, in many ways, remarkable man who wrote them. I suspect they won't do much better than this comprehensive study.

I would suggest a basic knowledge of Roman history would help before tackling this but otherwise it is pretty easy to get into.

Will I read on? No, but then I am not a fan of The Meditations and there are other emperors higher up my reading list.

Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor by Frank McLynn is out now.

It's All Their Fault

We've only gone and done another publishing first. Bloody show offs.

It's All Their Fault by Neil Boorman is an alternative manifesto for the forthcoming election. It's message: we need to vote out the Baby Boomers as they are the ones that have fucked up the country for us younger ones.

Excellent, I like what you are saying, but what is original about that?

Well, here's the science bit.

The book will be published the moment the election is announced. The ebook and print files are sitting there all ready. As soon as Gordon Brown waddles off to see the Queen we hit a big red button in our office (we don't, obviously, but it would be fun if we did) and the book becomes available. You can order it minutes later and have it delivered to your electronic device or a physical copy will be printed on demand. Just for you.

So, a book published within moments of the election being called. That's quite cool. But it's not all, not by a long chalk.

The whole book can be viewed online at itsalltheirfault.com. You can browse through it but also comment and add to the main text. This open forum will be in place for the duration of the election and then, on results night, a new edition of the book will be created incorporating as many of the comments and additions as we can fit in there without being sued or arrested.

The idea is to create a (sort of) open access book that not only speaks to its audience but also includes it in the creation of a new version, keeping the debate going.

It is a fun project to be part of but it is also a serious experiment with a different way of publishing. Can you bring a book to market with little or no lead time? Can retailers cope with a book that suddenly appears and doesn't slot in to their rigid sell-in routines (ha, that remains to be seen!). Can you actually make a book work when you only have a couple of weeks to sell it? Robin Harvie at The Friday Project has been pulling it all together with the author and a bunch of eager helpers at HarperCollins.

Let's see what happens.

You can get hold of It's All Their Fault by Neil Boorman from all the usual online retailers and the ebook will be wherever ebooks are sold. But not until the election is announced, obviously.

They are both under a fiver.

Fancy a taster? Try this for size.

Or check out this article Neil wrote for the BBC website, it has been sitting on their homepage of late.

I'll pop back and let you know how it goes.

Quick Flick: Bangkok Days

Originally arriving to take advantage of some low price dentistry (flight, accommodation and work costing less than the same procedure at home), self-confessed 'lazy cunt' Osborne ends up staying in Bangkok when he discovers he can get by on just a few dollars a day.

This is different to most of the travel books I have read - darker, edgier and much more entertaining as a result.

Will I read on? Definitely.

Bangkok Days by Lawrence Osborne is published by Vintage and is out now.

Free Radicals

Do you see what I did there? With the title? Genius. *bows*

Anyway, I have four* signed copies of A Radical History of Britain by Edward Vallance to give away for free. Nothing. Gratis. Out of the kindness of my heart (OK, the author's heart). With my best wishes.

But surely there is a catch?

Of course there bloody well is.

But it is a tiny one.

All I ask is that you get round to reading it as soon as you can and that you make the effort to review the book online. Ideally on Amazon as that has the most clout but anywhere else would do as well - your blog, one of the social networking sites, anywhere you can.

Unless you don't enjoy it, of course, in which case you can keep your trap shut.

So what is this book I am foisting upon you? Well, it is an enjoyable history of our national tendency towards revolution and irreverance featuring a cast of well-known characters including King Alfred, Robin Hood, George Orwell and Mary Wollstonecraft. The perfect history lesson for the rebel in all of us.

And who is the author? It is none other than the young and radiant Edward Vallance. Long-time readers of this blog will remember him from my Glorious Stereo Reading Experiment in which I read two books about the Glorious Revolution at the same time. Ted's one came out on top.

And I am delighted to announce that Ted will be one of our guests at the Firestation Book Swap in June (yes, we are booking that far ahead) so I will chuck in a free guestlist for the four winners as well as the signed books.

All you need to do is leave a comment beneath this blog post and I will select the names at random at the weekend.

Can't say fairer than that. Away you go.

*He actually sent me five copies, but I am keeping one. So there.

Quick Flick: Celebrity

A sharp and cutting look at celebrity culture that really does put all the bullshit in stark contrast.

I loved the observation about Angelina Jolie being invited to join the Council of Foreign Relations, an organistation that included Henry Kissinger - a man who spent part of his life ensuring that there were plenty of Cambodian orphans for famous people like her to adopt.

This is a full-on attack and is brilliantly written.

Will I read on? I would never have bought this in a million years but I am loving it so far. Yes.

Celebrity: How Entertainers Took Over The World and Why We Need an Exit Strategy by Marina Hyde is published in April.

What's The Matter?

Two scientists, old friends, argue on a television programme about the many worlds theory. Shortly afterwards the son of one of the men is kidnapped, the father instructed to carry out a murder to secure his safe return.

I loved the opening third of this book, the mix of science theory and crime plot was fascinating and gripping. It also contained some outstanding descriptive writing. I thought I was on to something special

But the novel loses its way when the detective shows up. An elderly policeman suffering from a brain tumour which in turn leads to occasional bouts of altered reality. His interpretation of events and reaction to the main protagonists are just too odd to believe and the scenes in which reality and unreality meet - the novel's own many worlds theory, perhaps - are just plain confusing.

Having whizzed through the first part of the book in a few sittings I found the middle portion dragged and I would put off picking it up in favour of other reading material. Realising that I need to either give up of finish the bloody thing I forced myself to polish the rest off during a lengthy train journey, finally managing to reach the bizarre and ultimately unrewarding conclusion.

All of which may lead you to think that I didn't enjoy the book but, on reflection, I did rather. Sure, it doesn't quite work but it is an ambitious failure and in as much is far more interesting that a lot of the stuff I have to read. And there are moments of real brilliance. I just wish the whole thing had hung together a bit better. A noble experiment from an author I will probably read again.

Dark Matter by Juli Zeh is out now, published by Harvill.

A Song For Sunday

In A Notebook by Goldmund.

Quick Flick: The Rise & Fall Of Communism

If you are going to write a history of communism it had better be comprehensive, and this book with its 700+ closely-printed pages is certainly that. But it is also accessible and straightforward.

A linear study, it traces communism from its pre-Marx origins (Comrade Jesus anyone?) right up to its widespread collapse.

It is a fascinating subject and this strikes me as the perfect book to help you get to grips with it.

Will I read on? Certainly.

The Rise and Fall of Communism by Archie Brown is published in paperback next month.

The Prize Draw

79 people entered my competition to win a signed first edition of Solar by Ian McEwan and some Solar t-shirts. Here they all are on pieces of paper just seconds before the big draw.

 

They were then all plonked into this lovely pot (made by my wife, she sells stuff here).

And three names were pulled out.

 

Congratulations to A FARREY who wins the book and a shirt, and to THE LITTLE READER and KAREN SCOTT who both win a t-shirt.

I will be in touch shortly to get your addresses.

Bad luck to the losers (and you did lose so you are losers) but watch out for another giveaway next week. I have a bunch of signed copies of this book up for grabs.

Quick Flick: Reckless

A well-reasoned and measured account of the global financial crisis and the events that brought it about.

This sort of extended journalism is good to see and although this is a little dry it does give you all the information you need to understand the mess we are in.

Will I read on? No, but then this isn't a subject I want 200 pages of background on.

Reckless: The Rise and Fall of the City by Phillip Augar is published next week.

The End Of Publishing

This really is very good.

Told you.

Quick Flick: Sacred Sierra

You may recall Webster's book Duende from a few years back - his account of an eventful affair with a flamenco dancer and how he came to love the dance and music as well as the woman. I have it on my shelf somewhere. I really must get round to reading it soon.

In Sacred Sierra the author is now married although, it would appear, to a different dancer, and has just set up home on a remote Spanish mountain.

And what follows is pretty standard city-folk-move-to-countryside travel memoir. Pretty good it is too but it lacks the thrill and edge that made his first book so appealing.

Will I read on? No, although dipping into this has made me move Duende further up my reading pile.

Sacred Sierra: A Year on a Spanish Mountain by Jason Webster is published by Vintage and comes out in paperback next month.

Solar Competition

As promised yesterday I have a signed first edition of Ian McEwan's new novel Solar to give away to one of my readers.

I also have three limited edition Solar t-shirts.

So here's the deal.

If you want to stand a chance of winning one of these delightful literary items then simply leave a comment beneath this blog post. I will put all the names into a hat, or similar receptacle, and pull out three of them at random.

The first name out will win the book and a t-shirt. Two runners up will win shirts.

Do please spread the word. The more the merrier.

Quick Flick: Sabra Zoo

Set in Beirut during 1982, this strong debut centres around a group of medical volunteers attempting to repair the physical human damage of conflict.

Ivan works as an interpreter, filtering the conversations between doctors and patients. He fancies Eli, a Norwegian physiotherapist, and bonds with her while caring for Youssef, an orphan disabled by a cluster bomb.

Political events conspire against them but also bring them closer together when a political assassination is carried out and the Israeli army surrounds the camp.

Sometimes a good novel can tell you more about a country and its people than piles of newspapers. This feels like that sort of book.

Will I read on? Yep.

Sabra Zoo by Mischa Hiller is published by Telegram Books.

A Bit Of Solar Babble

I have a bit of a checkered past when it comes to Ian McEwan. We've had some highs and some lows, me and Ian. Not that he knows anything about them, of course. He is too busy being a hugely successful novelist and won't know me from Adam.

I hated Amsterdam. So much so that I wrote this piece for The Times in which I call it the worst Booker winner ever.

But I loved Atonement.

And I thought The Cement Garden was pretty good.

I would recommend both.

Enduring Love, on the other hand, left me cold and bored. One exciting balloon scene does not a great novel make.

But what about his latest book Solar? I think it is fair to say that I am not the sort of person who rushes out to buy the new McEwans when they hit the shelves but neither am I going to kick them out of bed if they turn up unannounced.

Which is sort of what has happened. I have been sent a copy of Solar to review. If you haven't picked up a copy to have a flick through yet then I would urge you to do so. It has a really cool rubberised cover which is fun to fondle.

I have no idea what the insides are like though. I will do soon.

But there's more. I have also been sent a signed copy of Solar and three limited edition Solar t-shirts to give away as competition prizes.

I will post details of how to win one of these fine items tomorrow. Pop back then.

Pork & Bisto

I am really rather chuffed to be able to announce that The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke has been shortlisted for the Bisto Book of the Year Award.

[pauses for fanfare, round of applause, cheering and general celebration]

The Bisto is the biggest children's book award in Ireland and it is wonderful to have Harry Pigg's first adventure recognised by such an important prize.

The rest of the shortlist is very strong and has one of my favourite writers, John Connolly, on there. Past winners include John Boyne for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Siobhan Dowd for Bog Child. I have yet to hear if I get to go to a posh awards dinner with Bob or not. If I do then I guess I will have to dust off the funeral suit.

Third Pig is a spoof of classic crime novels with all the normal hard-boiled heroes and villains replaced by fairytale characters.

It seems to be proving as popular with adults as it is with kids. So much so that we have struggled to get some of the book chains to put it in the children's sections. Hopefully this award recognition will fix that and will also give us a chance to find a whole new audience for the series.

The Bisto Award runs a shadowing scheme with schools around Ireland reading the shortlisted books. The winner will be announced on May 24th.

If you fancy reading The Third Pig Detective Agency yourself then I am sure most bookshops in Ireland will have plenty of copies prominently displayed as part of their support of the prize. If you are in the UK then you might have to prompt your local store to get a few in. It is pretty easy to get hold of from the online retailers, of course.

But if you are feeling very modern then you might want to check out the ebook version which we are currently selling for a knockdown price. You can download it for a mere £1.04 from Waterstone's, or for $3.56 at the Kindle store (I think it is cheaper if you are in the States).

Congratulations to Bob on this well-deserved recognition.

Book Swap Cake

Some members of the audience at our monthly Firestation Book Swap really do get into the spirit of the whole thing. One of our traditions is that if you bake a cake you can get in for free. The lovely @kortni_alys stunned us all in February with an array of cupcakes spelling out the name of our event but she topped that last Thursday with these wonders.

 

The authors were suitably impressed and flattered. I have no idea what she is going to come up with next month. Perhaps a life-size rendering of Marie in marzipan?

If you have never been to one of our Book Swaps before you really should you know, they are jolly good fun. The next one for grown ups will be on Thursday 15th April and we have a free one for kids on Sunday 18th April. Tickets are £5 for the regular event but the children's one is free.

Do pop along.

Quick Flick: The Spy Game

Anna's mother disappears one foggy day in the early 60s. Her brother Peter concocts an elaborate theory about their mother, originally from eastern Germany, being a spy.

Years later, Anna tries to find out the truth.

I was all set up to like this but the writing style put me off, bogged down as it was with more words than were required. I am sure it is a novel that many will 'get' - I noticed it in the loyalty card display at Waterstone's - but I didn't.

Will I read on? Too many books to persevere with this one to see if it got any better.

The Spy Game by Georgina Harding is published by Vintage.

Guest Blogger: Charlie Williams

I do feel a bit unworthy. Jon Morter launched a Facebook campaign to get Rage Against the Machine (a band he has no commercial interest in) to Christmas number one, thereby sticking two fingers up at Simon Cowell and his X Factor. Not an ulterior motive in sight there, no personal gain whatsoever besides glory. So *I* launch a Facebook campaign to get my own book published, thereby... well, just getting my book published. When you put it like that, I do seem a bit mercenary. But would you believe me if I said I was doing it for health reasons?

*Mental* health reasons.

Back in 2002 I wrote Deadfolk. It was my third novel, but the first one that looked like having a chance of publication. The main difference between this and my first two was the location (Mangel, a provincial English town from hell, based on Worcester) and the voice of the first person narrator, Royston Blake... a small-town doorman with a big city ego, a flexible relationship with reality and his own way of expressing things. I don't know where that voice came from. I had been in a few scrapes with bouncers over the years - haven't we all - but not to such an extent that I got to know about their inner lives... their essential fragilities that come with the job and the personality type that inevitably drifts towards it. But I didn't question that voice either. I just wrote, as any writer would. Here was pay-dirt: a voice, so distinct from my own and yet quite authentic. Plus it was always there, a first person narrative on tap. And it didn't stop at THE END. Straight away I started writing the follow-up, Fags and Lager , fulfilling the two book deal I had signed with Serpent's Tail for Deadfolk.

Pete Ayrton (Serpent's Tail publisher) came to a reading event for Deadfolk I did at the Big Chill festival. I had already finished Fags and Lager and handed it in, and Pete asked me what I was going to write next. "Another Royston Blake novel, of course," I said, sipping my pint of rough scrumpy and surveying the hordes of burnt-out ravers. "I'm already writing it." He thought about that for all of a moment, then said: "I'll send you a contract."

Three Royston Blake books, plopping out one after the other, each finding their way to book form with very little effort from me. If that sounds easy, I guess it was. But you have to figure in those first two novels, the stillborns. I paid my dues with them. Rejection slips? Ha! I could paper my house with them. But they were a thing of the past, right? I'm on a roll baby, already putting the final gloss on WRONGUN, the fourth Blakey novel. "Plop", it was meant to go, like the others. But it didn't.

It didn't make any sound at all.

"We like it." This was my editor speaking, John Williams. I'm paraphrasing. "Peter and I love it, it's just..."

What? *What*, dammit???

"It's Profile, the new owners of Serpent's Tail. They don't like the sales figures on the other books."

Wha...? But... but what about the reviews? What about The Times? What about the *Irish* Times? What about "hell, this is gloriously funny stuff and so original that other writers must be gnashing their teeth in jealousy" (Mathew Lewin - The Guardian)? What about the translations into four foreign languages? What about the fact I appeared at the Guardian Hay Festival, for God's sake, and got my complementary crate of free champagne (lasted about three days)???

But, once my ranting died down into a series of grunts and snivels, I realised what was going on here. What's more, I totally understood it... even if I hated it. It seems a bit redundant to say so, but a publishing house is a business. It is also a guardian of the arts, but only insofar as sometimes taking a gamble on something good but with no obvious commercial value. With a series of books about a potty-mouthed bouncer prone to accidental killing and existential crises, I was the proud creator of something with no obvious commercial value.

I had another stillborn on my hands.

So I put it behind me. I wrote another book - Stairway to Hell - which was nothing to do with Blakey or Mangel. Serpent's Tail published it last year, cautiously perhaps but reassured no doubt that it wasn't part of a commercially moribund series. It was a book I had wanted to write for years, I loved writing it (as much as a person can "love" writing) and the reviews were good. But things weren't moving on for me. There was a pain in my head, a buzzing that wouldn't go away and kept cranking up the pressure. It was Royston Blake, not dead after all and not happy either. He wanted to speak. He had stories to tell, characters to introduce and new swearwords to coin. "See them books in that shop over there?" he said. "They're shite. You want a book, I'll give you a book. Get your pen and paper out."

But Blakey, you can't just dismiss every book in Waterstones. There are some great books in--

"They're shite! Get your fucking pen out! And you can do summat else as well. See that book of mine, Wrongun? I want it out there. I want it in that shop. I want freedom!"

How do you ignore a voice like that? Prozac? A lobotomy? Whisky?

Nursing my umpteenth hangover, I gave in. But what to do? When a series is commercially successful, it's simple enough for the author to take it to a new publisher. But a series that sold in successively smaller numbers (despite consistently good reviews)... not so simple. Whichever way I looked at it, I knew I was going to have to persuade Serpent's Tail to give it a go. But how? They had turned it down, hadn't they?

Around that time I got a message asking me to join a Facebook group - Rage Against the Machine for Christmas Number One. Huh, I thought, they've got as much chance as I have of getting WRONGUN published, thereby appeasing the angry bouncer in my head. But I joined anyway. You never know.

FREE THE MANGEL ONE - 100,000 MEMBERS AND BLAKEY GOES FREE

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The link above will take you to a Facebook group. If Charlie can get 100,000 members then his publisher will, I believe, agree to publish his new book. He currently has 77. Just a little way to go then.

You can also check out Charlie's website and I will be reviewing one of his books soon.

A Song For Sunday

Alex Chilton RIP.