Books

WATERSTONE'S EDINBURGH

AUTHOR EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS EDINBURGH WEST END

Wednesday 18th July at 6pm

TONY PARSONS One for my Baby

Tony Parsons. journalist and broad-

signs copies of 'One for

my Baby', the follow-up to the best- selling 'Man and Boy'.

Tickets: Free

Wednesday 25th July at 6pm

ALEXEI SAYLE The Dog Catcher

Alexei Sayle, comedian, actor, presenter, writer and pop star, reads from and signs copies of his new novel 'The Dog Catcher'. Tickets: Free

Details of all events at Waterstone's can be found in the listings section

SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH £2 OFF in JULY

AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN

Ouintin Jardine

Headline Price: £9.99 Waterstone's Price: £7.99

BRAPl' IN THE RAIN QuIN‘rIN JA’RDINE

Waterstone's is also offering £1 off selected Quintin Jardine titles in July.

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96 THE LIST 1‘

Julie 3 RCHILL

The Guardian Columns 1998-2000

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Just as some people have a face for radio, Julie Burchill has a voice for the written word. Still speaking like a squeaky schoolgirl well into her 41 st year, it‘s unlikely that Britain’s most opinionated columnist would have enjoyed quite such a glamorous career had she opted for TV, rather than print,

journalism.

Having left her mark on the NME, The Face, The Daily Mail and The Sunday Times, the British

sly‘ ,"<'\’\L_ibl.1

Back to back Burchill is hard to swallow

newspaper scene was looking woefully tame without her caustic wit and inflammatory remarks. Until 1998, when Ms Burchill was once again handed the chance to be lewd, crude and misconstrued in a national. Her weekly diatribe in the Saturday Guardian quickly proved to be the highlight of that paper’s week. From wife-beating footballers to female circumcision, the war in Serbia to the closure of C&A, no contentious stone was left unturned. We may not always agree with her (all women saddled with a football fan for a boyfriend are instructed to ‘dump him, smartish’) but she always offers us a bounteous helping of food for thought. But now here they all are in one handy volume, and somehow it's not quite the same. Back-to-back Burchill is less palatable than weekly bitesize chunks; but then perhaps light snacking rather than continuous

grazing is in order here.

Her talent for tapping into the zeitgeist flounders amid speculation over whether Robbie and Nicole will head up the aisle. But dated or not, Burchill’s brilliant incisiveness into the previous week’s events remain unparalleled. Although printing the letters of complaint she receives each

issue would have been a nice touch. (Kelly Apter)

FICTION/\L MEMOIR BENJAMIN LEBERT

Crazy (Penguin €6.99) 0..

Teenage kicks can indeed be hard to heat. but the IITSGCUHIICS and problems that surround them are often pretty damn depressing. Benjamin Lebert has it worst than most. His erratic academic record means he is shunted from school to school on a regular basis. while the partial paralysis of his left side doesn't make life any easier for the yOung German.

Lebert wrote this. his first novel. at the age of sixteen and it is iperhaps unsurprisingly; rather more mature and significantly less patronismg than the .ersions of teen life dreamt up by TV execs in the likes of Dawson '3

Creek and Ho/lyoaks. During the celirse of a year. he struggles through classes. absconds from his cold boarding school and loses his Virginity in the girls' leilets.

This memOir is readable to the point of seeming unsubstantial, but its honesty is palpable. And Lebert's conclusmn, that the world is “crazy” prowdes, in its own way. as profound a mantra as any concocted by classical philosophy. (James Smart)

CRIME MYSTERY NICCI FRENCH The Red Room Michael Joseph £9.99) 0..

So many fictional murders are solved by people who aren't actually policemen that yOu wonder what the ferce is deing these days. Lots of paperwork,

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presumany Kit Quinn is a clinical psychiatrist called in by the police to {ssist them in the investigation of a young homeless girl's murder.

The main suspect is the man who attacked Kit With a cup of tea inot nearly as funny as it sounds) during a routine intee/iew. But as more murders are committed. Kit becomes more and more conyinced that he is innocent.

French's taie of disenfrarichised drifters and manipulative coppers is generic enough, but some deft prose means that the plot twists seem shocking. And hidden in this decent enough crime novel is an interesting study of a woman coming to terms Willi encroaching middle age. Unlike Helen Fielding and her ilk, this book's author does not lighten the paranOia with humow and optimism. iJames Smarti

CULTURAL SATIRE HWEE HWEE TAN

Mammon Inc. ilvlichael Joseph 210.9% 00000

‘Steve got his dick caught in the window.” The first line is genius but the next few pages