Reviews
M l/‘llUH‘utll" i Marx.» HEATHER MCGOWAN
The Duchess of Nothing
ll atrerr 0..
l":rtr;:l;‘, llr‘: llrr;‘.l errrleanng .‘rr llll;,""l‘.*:llt wt liroolrlynrte {)l4l,’.'1l'llill£1llli'|(;.‘:ll‘,i tt‘fdlll‘Il M',(i().‘.’.rll" .u'Mllfi DUMP. l', hon rnurh rt reprement. not no rrrurh a ',t,lr‘.tlr, 'eap a‘, a eonlrdent and assured re evaluatren of her own 'x/rrtrng Uly’lv.‘ Where lzer (j‘fl/Hl
,‘Jr floor/rig was a
‘,( attergun utrearn ol Nor/res}, of Nothing I‘, a malrn and rnedrtatrye Work ol strarght prose. Not only has Mr;( Eowan altered her style, she has lrrrnly mastered tnru new one, there's a languid, rnedrtatrye quality to the lrrst person narration, punetuated lly’ some amusrngly sharp frankness.
Nothing
ll .r'hr-r
lhe style marries perterrtly to the book's theme, at; her narrator spends la/y days (ganng tor her handsome hut vaeant Italian lover's young hrother. going on to transter her d ssatrstaetron wrth men and life into a needy eontrol ol the hoy's edueatrort. Yet this is not some parahle ot a deranged woman. more an t ssur'edly written eharaeter study that demands attentive reading, (Davrd Pollot‘lg
musreAr rnAvr roour LL
WI HODGKINSON
Guitar Man (Bloomsbury) I...
lhey say lllLlSltI journalists are lust tailed musicians but here's a successlul lOUlllE‘lllSl attempting to become a musrcran. So the old Cliche gets turned on rts
lzearl Let thanktlrl', Thr.
l‘,.'lr)l':lllttlll..‘1l’)llt’
rrrar". utnrrg rrrrlulgerrre
\ft/Ill ll< lrlrikrri‘mrr (teen hrrnselt nor. month. to learn the guitar trorn erratr l: and play .rr tront of paying punteru llaant; no prior ‘lkIHH hut .l Wealth of rnunrral rontar tr; to draw on, he self; out on lllf; own r(;llllrrl‘,/ rnusrr al Journey to glean some expert arlyrte lle ohtarns. Words of y‘xrsrlorn from the llhlf‘. ot l’J Harte» .Johrrny Man. the Stooges .Jarneé. Williamson, Hert .lanst'h. yeteran hluesrnan l Model lord and the li'yrdr‘J lloger Matiurnn and. rn doing so. rerountt; not only the evolution of the Instrument hut the love allarr so many have had Wllll It
lntrnrtely sweet and
l’()l ll|(;/\l l SSAY
'tll r} r 0
‘l/ltr'h. M .tn-rs, '
{m / ,i/«l “UAW/t . I A r1 DAVID MCKIE Great British Bus Journeys
'A’Lrhllr r...
t’rr'l iltr.’iflw’lln". lur'i (tl‘nr'lflfllllrtlll a ~.t..'1, l)(1.lll h/lt KW}, llrr' n limit lllrf) llltl' .rr 7‘. .r‘» ‘r yehrrle tor arnrrr; vnar., .‘rondrorm. preposterous and starrdalou‘. lllblfllltr‘e and respeettully llll‘.":ll‘, a rlrrnrnrshrng nay ot rile, ot rnarlset day, and «lose knit t,t;lllllltrllltlr:f) Starting rr: hit. heloyeo l eerls, MrKre set“, ott on a yer, personal hut .rrmtrnd series ot llllJH
around the ‘.’lllélllt:f).
GREAT
BRITISH
BUS JOURNEYS
small towns and suburbs of Britain that apparently harhour the
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
After the Neocons ll’rotrlel 0..
Influential American philosopher, economist and writer Francis Fukuyama is best known here as the author of The End of History, in which he argued that with the Cold War over, the progression of human history as a struggle
between ideologies was finished. Touted in Bush
Jr’s first term of office as one of the key neoconservative think tank guys, he was a main signatory on a letter to the president after 9/11, calling for the removal of Saddam Hussein from power ‘even if evidence does not link lraq directly to the attack’. By 2004, however, Fukuyama was trying in the press and through a series of lectures to distance himself from both Bush and the invasion. Much to Rumsfeld and Bush’s chagrin, he had become less of a fellow traveller and more of an intellectual polemicist.
After the Neocons is an extended essay based
on the Castle Lectures that Fukuyama delivered in April 2005. In academic yet clear prose, he expounds on the history of neoconservatism before dismantling any argument for a US presence in Iraq. Fukuyama warns against America being obsessed with foreign policy while suggesting other economic and social models which could work. Like all his output, this is unapologetically demanding, rancorous and occasionally even reactionary stuff. Yet despite some attempts by Fukuyama to simplify his ideas on working liberal democracies, this is still a disappointing work. (Paul Dale)
E€«1’).";(). "‘ 1' I
\lr‘ l ‘. .'I.],'° 't. It‘ll” iriil'r} .1413. "9:1' It ti.l‘t}.rl
17' its oatl' um not all trio: wimp", ort ll‘e tear howl .rreer‘, tale?» .‘.litl llrrrll‘. tin-.n‘, llt tragrr Lynn?“ ‘.t.r.r\.al (Sreat [int/arr le‘. Jrhn'flr‘tfl‘, rllfrlrlllt‘)
,t glor‘xy or there
enough to lump on an
untarnrlrar route and lose a te‘.‘.’ hours In .'.l:)lllll eohlternplatron rtvlarl. l drnundsonr
Si l( )lll filthlll S SUSIE MAGUIRE (ED)
Little Black Dress ll’olygollr 0..
Writing a short story to a speritred theme I?) a Ineky nurnher to pull off loo otten. the regurred element seems shoe horned In to :satrsly some pernrekety (ftilltfl. Writer and <;rrtr(: Susie Magurre's anthology. whrr;h features a range of responses to that most reonre ot drrnrnutrve garments. lrom a range ot a<:(:ornplrshed women Writers. largely avoids
ALSO PUBLISHED
rnomt rrrgerm «lr‘. utr rim. line that rrlrtlr‘m. .llm "- ot e\enrrrg.‘.e.rr a‘ .r sprrnghoard tr» larger llltfllrt") Eitelia [Juttyu
the [Sarorem' linllrantl‘,
"Hi-Int;
llrllxtt tile unmet: ages oi woman to the female (harat ter‘, trorn llre Sound of Mom. trorn little ( )retl to aged Nun llannah M«;(}!ll and .Jean Marsh l)l()‘.'l(lt.‘ (,onvrnmng portraits of young tllll‘. ‘illlltltllllttl to understand tragrt, tJUIlltlf) olr lll llle arlllli .‘rorlrl Muriel (tray takes the notion ol the atterrtron seeker to its grotesque extreme. while Mrehelle Berry", (;ornpellrng hlaek (:ornedy ‘l we ()ld ()rows' presents a (,oven of desperate housewrveé; rrnpatrent tor their spouses to (,‘roak. (Allan Hadelrttel
3f) P/rt'
Nick Tosches King of the Jews The story of gangland leader Arnold Rothsteun from the writer beloved 0t Johnny Depp. Harri/sh Hamilton
Paul Magrs Exchange A [My and his gran are hook obsessrves who stumble upon the Great Big Book Exchange. a very strange place indeed Simon 8. Schuster. Josh Peter I rred Twrnk/es. Buck/e Benn/es and Bali Riders Professional hullndrng rs Arnerrea's fastest growrng spectator sport and this tome takes a look at the 2004 tour Werdenfe/d (‘i Nico/son,
Frank Worrall Roy Keane Who rs the real Keano? And wrll he still be playing lll Scotland next season? Mainstream. Greg Iles Turn/rig Angel The brutal death of a 17 year old girl Ill a small MlSSlSSlle town opens up more than a can of worms and a closet ol skeletons. Hodder 8 Stoughton.
1", Apr 777’. THE LIST 31