CATALIST
BOOKS
Hellman, who was accused of tampering with the truth in her memoirs, gives some indication where he lies. For lies, white or whoppers, argues Dunne, are part of I ‘erature. No one would deny that is Iaif in the case of fiction but it is a bizarre way to approach an autobiography. Unreliable as a witness, tetchy and abusive under cross examination, Dunne is his own worst enemy. This is not someone with whom you would want to do time. But to him writing is a matter of life and death and that comes across: the man might be bad news but his book is a cheque in the post. (Alan Taylor)
SWEET OBAMS
The Dream Iain Crichton Smith (MacMillan £12.95) Martin is a lecturer in Celtic at a university in Glasgow in the throes of the Gaelic menopause. Jean, his wife, is a travel agent who will go anywhere as long as it is not back to the island where she spent her illegitimate childhooa. Both were brought up on Raws yet neither knew each other until they met in front of Breughel’s Misanthrope in Aberdeen Art Gallery. This is just one of several curious misconnections in a sensitively drawn but otherwise tired novel about the predicament of the Gael, nostalgic for a home that resides only in memories of a halcyon childhood. Reminiscent in part of Edwin Muir’s Autobiography, in which the poet recalled being savagely uprooted from his Orcadian Arcadia only to be re-rooted in grim Glasgow, it turns the peat on paradoxes much pondered over by those who can sniff a malt from a blend in a public lavatory. Consistently questioning and engagingly argumentative, the nip in the air is provided by the intermittent appearances of John Morrison, a brilliant Gaelic scholar with wandering hands and an intemperate intake. Now who was his model, I wondered? But not for long. (Larry O’Brien)
JUST PUBLISHED ‘
I Churchill’s Black Dog Anthony Storr (Fontana £3.99)
' Psychoanalysis and art come together in this fascinating collection of essays, as Storr scrutinises such
diverse figures as Churchill and Kafka. A treasure trove for the psychotic ‘artiste’. I Mandeia’s Earth Wole Soyinka (Methuen £4.99) Poems on Mandela, Mengele, New York subways and Winnie Mandela’s bedspread, from the Nigerian poet and Nobel Prize winner. Sharp-shooting satire and indelible imagery. I Higher Ground Caryl Phillips (Penguin £4.99) Three portraits, related in the form of a novel, of examples of life’s casualties, convincingly etched in blood-and-guts reality by Phillip’s astute pen. I Borderline Janette Turner Hospital (Virago Press £4.99) Two strangers are drawn together to rescue a refugee from a meat truck at a border crossing; are they, too, to become part of El Salvador’s los desaparecidos? Ham-fisted surrealism, liberally sprinkled with fanciful pretensions. I The House oi Nire Morio Kita (Fontana £5.99) A satirical look at life in Japan, from 1918 up to the end of World War 11, through the eyes of the Nire family. A fascinating peek into Japanese culture.
‘ SINS OF _ THE MOTHERS "
I Sins oi the Mothers Patricia Angadi (Black Swan £3.99) lffy, a black, six-foot tall, l7-stone would-be opera singer, contrasts wickedly with her sensible, white middle-class friend Rosie. A surprisingly sharp and witty tale, despite the horrendously tacky cover.
I Wild Women in the Whirlwind Ed. Joanne M. Braxton and Andree
6. The Easy Way to Stop Smoking Alan Carr (Penguin £3.50)
1. Nails Art Spicgelman (Penguin £5.95)
BESTSELLERS 1. The Negotiator .1. Mozart's Last Year H.C. 2. new voi.2 no.1 (Penguin Frederick Forsyth (Corgi Robbins Landon £7.99) £4.99) (Flamingo £5 .99) 3. Batman: The Dark Knight 2. The Complete 1in and e. Cat's Eye Margaret Returns Frank Miller Thigh Diet Rosemary Atwood (Virago £4.99) (Titan £8.95) Conlon (Arrow £2.99) 9. Shades oi Scotland 4. Eleltra Assasin Frank 3. The Wee Glasgow Facts Oscar Marzaroli Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz Doolt G, Keelie (Straight (Mainstream £14.95) (Marvel £8.95) Line £3.50) 10.?oetet Wine Guide 1990 5. Watchman Moore and A. A Disaileetiorr James Hugh Johnson (Mitchell Gibbons (Titan £9.95) Kelman (Picador £5.99) Beazeley £5.95) 5. Thiei in the NightJohn Cornwell( Penguin £4.99) Information supplied
by Hatchards, 50 Gordon Street, Glasgow, 04] 221 0262.
Nicola McLaughlin (Serpent’s Tail £12.95) The literary and cultural traditions of black women are explored in this wide-ranging collection of essays (with similarly extensive index and bibliography). An awesome, intriguing work.
EVENTS
I JONN SNITH’S 57 St Vincent Street, 221 7472.
Fri 23 1pm. Julie Walters will be signing copies of her new publication ‘Baby Talk’ (Ebury Press’ £7.95), the diary of a pregnant woman.
Tue 3 11am. Marie Hedderwick will be hosting a storytelling session to promote her new paperback, ‘Katie Morag and the Big Boy Cousins’ (Collins £2.50).
I VOLUMES BOOKSTORE 63—65 Queen Street. 226 5762/3.
Sat 31 2pm. Storytelling from Marie Hedderwick.
I WATEBSTONE'S 132 Union Street. 221 0890.
Thurs 5 7.30pm. Robert Crawford will be reading from and signing copies of his new poetry work ‘A Scottish Assembly’ (Chatto £5.95). Wine to be served.
I AN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF WRITING: GLASGOW 1990
Tue 3—Sun 8
Celebration of the 70th birthday of Glasgow poet Edwin Morgan, uniting writers from minority cultures all over the world. Together with Scottish writers, nationhood, race, gender, class and culture will be explored and discussed within a daytime conference programme. In the evenings a range of social events will take place. Conference events tickets, £5 per day (£3). £20 for 5 days. Evening events only £2 (£1). Tickets available from Ticket Centre, Candleriggs, 041 227 5511 and other ticket outlets or on the door.
Tue 3 RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. Edwin Morgan ‘Saturn and Other Rings’ Lecture. Followed by buffet/reception. Tickets £5 (£3) lecture and reception. £2 (£1) lecture only.
Wed 4 Boyd-Orr Building, Glasgow University.
Events For Writers Groups With Stephen Mulrine of ‘MacGregor’s Gathering’.
The Writer and Language Shirley Lim (Malaysia) reads with Rory Watson (Scotland), Nuala ni Dhomnaill (Ireland), Gurmeet Mattu (India/Scotland), Maoilios Caimbeul, Azouz Begag (Francophone Africa) and Tom Hubbard (Scotland).
Writers Workshop Competition Awards College Club, Glasgow University. 7.30pm. Presented by Douglas Dunn (Scotland) and Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana).
Thurs 5 Boyd-Orr Building, Glasgow University.
itaee, Gender and Class in Fiction Allan Massie with Brian McCabe (Scotland), Caryl Phillips (St Kitts),
Enzo Siciliano (Italy), Dea Trier Morch (Denmark). Chair: John Linklater.
naee, Gender and Class in Poetry Fleur Adcock (New Zealand) reading with Grace Nichols (Guyana), Taban Lo Liyong (Sudan), Kathleen Jamie (Scotland), Ilse Aichinger (Austria), Jackie Kay (Scotland), Eunice de Souza (India) and Marianne Larsen (Denmark).
An Indian Mushlara College Club, Glasgow University. 7.30pm.
Fri 6 Boyd-Orr Building, Glasgow University.
Race, Gender and Class in Drama Speaker: Ama Ata Aidoo with Harwant Bains (India/England), Peter Amott (Scotland), Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (Kenya) and others. Chair: Joyce MacMillan.
Dace, Gender and Class in the Media Speaker: Farrukh Dhondy (India/England) with Stuart Hood (England), Khushwant Singh (India), David Yip (China/England) and others.
Race, Class, Culture and Empire College Club, Glasgow University. 6—7pm. Scottish International Labour Council and Anti-Apartheid (sponsored by Anti-Apartheid). Cari McDougall and Friends College Club, Glasgow University. 7.30pm. An evening of readings by Janice Galloway, Robert Crawford, Edwin Morgan, Dilys Rose and A.N. Kennedy.
Sat 7 Boyd-Orr Building, Glasgow University.
Glasgow Drama With Maurice Lindsay, David Hutchinson, Marcella Evaristi and Tom McGrath. Moira Burgess presents ‘The Glasgow Short Story’.
Glasgow Song Carl McDougall introduces Gordon McCulloch, Ewan McVicar and Jimmie MacGregor.
Burn and Scotch College Club, Glasgow University. 7.30pm. Gordon McCulloch, Ewan McVicar, John Agard, Aonghas MacNeacail and other ingredients.
Sun 8 Boyd-Orr Building, Glasgow University.
The Glasgow Novel Douglas Gifford ‘Catherine Carswell’s Open The Door!’. Dorothy Porter ‘Imagining a City’. Rory Watson ‘The Poetry of Edwin Morgan’. Edwin Morgan ‘Glasgow Poets Past and Present’. An Evening in the Scotia Dar Scotia Bar, Stockwell Street. 7.30pm. Self-explanatory really!
For further information contact Eleanor Commander (Administrator) on 041 339 8855, ext 5093.
Edinburgh
I WATENSTONE'S 114 George Street, 225 3436.
Sat 31 Noon-3pm. Save the Planet Day. See Kids Listings.
Thurs 5 7.30pm. Hanif Kureishi, writer of the hit films ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ and ‘Sammy and Rosie Get Laid’ will be reading from his new novel, ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’ (Faber £12.99).
86 The List 23 March - 5 April 1990