books
review
ROCK AUTOBIOGRAPHY Mark Manning Crucify Me Again (Codex £8.95)
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Mark Mannrng was the eprtorne of 80s excess as Zodrac Mrnclwarp, frontrnan of the heavy metal band The Love Reactron. So, rt erI come as no surprrse to anyone who read Bad Wisdom - the nrghtrnare travelogue concocted by Mannrng and Brll Drurnmond that Crucr'fy Me Again rs the most depraved, psychotrc and sprteful autobrography you erI ever read.
Mannrng rs obvrously a hrghly unstable human berng, but he rs unafrard to drp hrs wrrtrng frngers rnto the muddrest of pres. At hrs best, he can brrng you tales from the darksrde of fame that are so bloated wrth paranora they may even surpass Julrar‘. Cope's vrvrd Head On c‘hronrc les.
Mannrng's ultrrnate farlrng rs rn hrs lac k of rntrrnsrc‘ human krndness that marks out Our greatest pop culture hrstorrans and many of the storres here range from the chrldrshly unkrnd to the blatantly untrue. Strll, rt's very funny. (Paul Dale)
URBANE FICTION
Molly long-Fast Normal Girl (Sceptre £10) 73'. a- .1.-
Norrna/ Grr/ rs a novel that we don't want to lrke,‘ one that rs full of flawless It Grrls, ageless Chanel No. 5 mothers and clueless soc ralrtes who speak rn vac uous Eur'o-rsms and n'rhose only care rn lrfe rs lookrng good and dorng the latest drugs. It rs Irke \‘vatcltrng Manhattan Uncovered exposrng thrs elrte's nocturnal and rntravenous gorngs-on or flrckrng through a saclrstrc edrtron of Hello. But rt rs, nevertheless, an excellent novel that hrghlrghts a destructrvely vac uous world where even funerals provrde catwalk opportunrtres. Regardless of her lrterary parentage, lrlOlly Jong-Tast's debut rs a slrck and currous read, rnakrng Normal G/r/ one of the better examples of a new breed of desrgner frctron. It rs fast- paced, sr/xles wrth acerbrc rngenurty and turns prguant observatrons on a
sprt over a well-stoked and br'usgue prose style. Vogursh but engagrng, (Joe McAvoyI
FUTURIST C FICTION Daren King Boxy An Star (Abacus £6.99)
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Descrrbrng a future world by rnventrng a whole new language rs a pretty courageOus thrng for any author to attempt. The fact that Daren Krng pulls rt off so convrncrngly wrth hrs frrst novel, Boxy/An Star, rs highly rmpressrve rndeed.
Our narrator Bole and hrs grrlfrrend
'Star are umpteenth generatron
druggres, ’born thru a sreve’, and have an rdrotrc chrldlrke rnnocence as they stumble through everyday Irfe rn a contrnuOus search for ‘spangles' therr drug of charce whrch they get from therr transvestrte dealer, Boxy.
Thrs rs not another drug novel, though, but a touchrng and porgnant love story, made all the more sweet by the apparent helplessness of the narve couple. Although the Irngurstrc style of the book rs rncredrbly rrrrtatrng to start wrth, rt's worth perseverrng Krng’s skrll wrth words erI gradually suck you rnto Bole’s hazy and brzarre world of ’trouble monkeys', 'cilobberdogs' and ’nunnrghts'. (Doug Iohnstoner
SCI-Fl COLLECTION Ray Bradbury
Long After Midnight (Earthlight £5.99) v
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Long before cyberpunk frc‘tron, Ray Bradbury was knockrng out future dramas that now mark hrm out as one of the grand old daddres of scr-fr wrrtrng. Hrs 500 plus short storres, novels and trlm screenplays rnc’lude Fahrenhert 457, The Mart/an Chronic/es and Somethrng Wrcked This Way Comes One novel ~ Dande/ron Wrne 4- gave rts name to one of the moon’s craters.
Thrs collectron of short storres
Continued over page
STAR RATINGS
A r. Outstandrng v r. i. r Recommended » r», it Worth a try 4 r- So-so Poor
BOOKS
MAY HIGHLIGHTS
MICHAEL ONDAATJE
will be at the GIOSQOW Royal Concert Hall to discuss his latest novel
IANIL’S GHOST]
TICKETS 5:2 7PM TUESDAY 16TH MAY
MATT DICKINSON
Everest expedition survivor, film maker and writer discussing his new novel
lHIGH RISKl 7PM THURSDAY 18TH MAY
OLIVER THOMPSON
Discussion of the 350 year Clan feud between the Campbells and the MocDonolds
7PM MONDAY 22ND MAY
LESLEY WATERS
instore cookery demonstration to celebrate publication of her book
[COOLER THAN CHILLrEst 7PM TUESDAY 23RD MAY
GLASGOW ARCHITECTURE
An illustrated talk on the architecture of Glasgow
7PM WEDNESDAY 24TH MAY
MARTIN AMlS
will be discussing his eagerly awaited memoir
I EXPERIENCEl
at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall TICKETS £2
8PM SATURDAY 27TH MAY
ROBERT KNOX
continuing his highly popular
lCABARET IN THE CAFEl
the best in new stand-up, performance poetry, music and spoken word in the city.
5.30PM TUESDAY 30TH MAY I POSTPONED I
JAMIE OLIVER
DPOSTPONED’ I
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