This week:
- The Day of Creation by J.G. Ballard
- High-Rise by J.G. Ballard
- Hollywood Ending by Kathy Charles [review here]
- Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen
- Utopian Man by Lisa Lang
- The Guerilla Art Kit: Everything You Need to Put Your Message Out Into the World by Keri Smith
- How to Be An Explorer of the World by Keri Smith
At the Melbourne Writer’s Festival today I was lucky enough to get the lovely Ms. Charles to sign my copy of Hollywood Ending in her signature almost matching the cover pink pen. She should be congratulated for very admirably tolerating my awkward self!
I’m excited to read Lisa Lang’s Utopian Man, her fictional take on the life of Edward William Cole, a historical figure from 1880s Melbourne who owned a massive (two city blocks!) book arcade. She also wrote a biography on Cole a few years back and I reviewed it in January. The Keri Smith’s were found in an op shop, and were such an unexpected op shop find that I had to snap them up. Some of it is a bit too artsy-cutesy-hipstery but I think there are some really postive ideas in her work as well.
Reviews posted on Start Narrative Here this week:
- Monday Mini-Reviews: short reviews of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1910 by Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill, Books Do Furnish a Room by Leslie Geddes-Brown and A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi by Chloe Rhodes.
- How to Be Alone: Essays by Jonathan Franzen: a collection of essays that appear more relevant to today’s culture than the time they were written in: on technology, the decay of the distinction between public and private, on the act of reading.
- The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx with Neil Strauss: sex, drugs, rock and roll – and that’s just the beginning of this sordid tale of rock debauchery.
Sadly, there’s no debauchery at my house tonight and the only pills I’m popping are antihistamines. Yes, a cup of tea and an early night are definitely in order tonight.