Books
LITERARY THRILLER
| and imagined historical some of the dialogue. gradually gets caught up ANDaEEw" l characters — I while predictable. is in all of their everyday Gnu . l Schrddinger. who is on i sharp. But the narrative concerns. which range Mobius chk |
itself is didactic to the from rampant alcoholism point of irritation. All and organic farming to gloss and no class. Iliad unbaptised children and
(Picador £16 99) 5 holiday searching for the ..... ' ' wave equation that will revolutionise physics.
fllc Helmon
i As the parallel stories this is not. (Anna Millar) bingo.
? become linked in bizarre Although the novel
and unpredictable ways. gar‘flififiéMA starts off promisingly, it's
; with brain-teasing “GLYNN not the comic romp you
I recurring themes and . The woman on the would expect from the i
subtle allusions. the ' Bus woman who was so .
implications of quantum ; (Review) C” fond of saying “you will.
; computers 7 you will’. The plot moves i
malfunctioning for the ; writing about it and we. P' u m" "c L V " " 5 along pacin and the Scottish author Des
% space-time continuum : the public. love reading narrative is well Dillon declares that ‘this become increasingly about it. Elsewhere in executed. shifting l deserves to sell more i relevant. Mobius Dick is ? the book sphere. self- smoothly between an i copies than ‘ fascinating. erudite and ' help books for the over interesting spread of Trainspotting.’ Des Dillon .- , witty. Not only is it a 1 303 male are flying off local characters. But it is is very. very wrong John Ringer receives an thriller based on é the shelf and the developing I because this novel is inexplicable text l quantum mechanics. it - mainstream ‘dick-lit'. , , relationship between the utter drivel. The ' message that reminds l covers literature. politics courtesy of fiction ' mystery woman and the : comparison to him of a long-forgotten and philosophy. And it writers like Parsons and the woman landlord that lets the l Trainspotting is apt I lover. On his way to a ; even has sex in it too. Hornby. continues to an the b“§ i side down. as the 1 because this book reads remote Scottish town to i What more could you draw the crowds. .. .. .s- “mm”... portrayal of their inner like a tenth-rate rip-off of give a talk on quantum 3 ask for? (Anna Shipman) ? And now comes Nic musings and emotional Irvine Welsh's theOry and mobile Kelman's Girls. yet The drunken arrival of an turmoil is enough to i breakthrough novel phone technology. a ; REEL/16‘ AN : another cog on the unknown woman to the ; make a reader feel 3 except with no plot. further series of 5 Gms I wheel. examining the town of Kilbrody. County rather queasy at times. g laughable coincidences leads him i (Serpents Ta”) .. way in which male Clare kickstarts this (Rachael Street) characterisation and to question just how i - a -- —~ -- ~~ status (in this case a I quirky novel by Pauline i RARY i absolutely nothing going purely theoretical his 3 The male libido gets father. a CEO and a i McLynn (best known as I BSQBEE‘MPO : for it whatsoever. findings are. ample attention in businessman) is subject the tea-obsessed Mrs i ALAN KELLY l Dillon also claims that ‘ lnterspersed with today's literary spaces to the age of the filly. : Doyle in Father Tea). The i The Tar Factory ! critics might be easily Ringer's experiences are as Beckham. Clinton Kelman's fictional debut stranger quickly 5 (Luath) O i offended by the those of unfortunate f and their like shoot their is not without some ’ becomes the centre of ' language or morally : amnesiac Harry Dick load to make a quick merit and. as a chronicle l attention for the small On the sleeve of The Tar l outraged by the and -amongst other real buck. The tabloids love of the male psyche. I community and i Factory. acclaimed l content. Actually. there
MUSIC PHOTOBIOGRAPHY BILL MILLER l . Cash: An American Man (Simon and Schuster) 0000 l O O < O - . . . I u u I I I w, : CW 111‘ . i l P r I/ 43 544 “JJ‘JJ 13 UP 1 ~ ,,. . 1] ~91”... . a" a‘ ‘o’. 13.8" ‘3", a J i r“ '1 “'31.: a ‘ ' "’“Wnon ° "4' an" V q a :3 ea @- ca v “4'18 .. 3 c - :3 The colourful life of the man in black (far right) g E At the age of 13, Bill Miller became entranced by the life and work of John , 0 R Cash after seeing him perform live in Colorado in 1973. At the end of a a rendition of ‘Orange Blossom Special’ Cash tossed one of the harmonicas a- he was using to Miller who was frozen, transfixed at the front of the stage. g It was from that moment on that his collection of momentos, memorabilia I 8 and artefacts begun. Some 30 years later, his archive has been collated, | Q photographed and made into this substantial tome. i c .Miller was more than just your average fanboy; he became close friends j . his a travel guide! With Cash over the years, to the extent that he was the godfather to the . “,8 a t h t, author’s son, Jordan. The scale of Cash’s fame put him on a parallel with , reflsure , un " _ the Beatles, Presley and Dylan in the US so it shouldn’t be surprising the ° It? a quuky hlsmry' . . Avallablc 8‘: . depth and breadth of collectibles on offer with his name, lyrics or fizzog ‘ WIth Clues; maps and hIStoncal has ‘ ,IfihK A R S emblazoned on them. 0 For Edinburgh’s residents and George Sum Everything from his own sketches of the Turin Shroud and posters from explorers alike Edinburgh I his religious epic movie The Gospel Road to truly surreal tat-like embossed penknives or thimbles are in here. Plus photographs, tickets, lyrics, John Wiley 811d 50!“ Ltd paintings of and by the man himself, and the last interview he ever did in ph‘mcf 9800 243407' Fax: 01243 843296 2003 - with MTV’s Kurt Loder. This is a brilliantly expansive book but it E“““‘- Ss'b""ks@W“CY-C"-uk. NOW on know sacrifices any real logic in favour of sensory overload. He may have been www'w‘leyeumw'c‘fm/go/lu'e y ' E; the man in black but Johnny Cash lived a life in glorious technicolor. www°l°°k‘“gup‘“ed‘"burgh'com w‘lcywmpc‘mm 3 (Mark Robertson)
8—22 Jul 2004 THE LIST 91