‘I STILL CONSIDER MYSELF AN HONORARY BOY'
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The gender struggle is Lionel Shriver’s theme, whether she’s writing about tennis players or child killers. She tells Brian Donaldson all about courting controversy.
I et's get the technical stuff out of the way. Lionel is not Shriver‘s real first name. This 49-
year-old American. currently living in London having had a spell in Belfast was born Margaret Ann. A perfectly lovely name. so why was it shed? ‘I just
never identified with “Margaret Ann" though I
probably didn't care for it most of all because I didn’t choose it.‘ she tells me during our email conversation while she awaits the arrival of a German TV crew in the home she shares with her jazz drummer husband. ‘I grew up rough-housing with two brothers. and was always a tomboy. To a degree. I still consider myself an honorary boy. though I suspect the insidiously feminine mellifluousness of "Lionel". those girlish. lilting Ls. may have influenced my selection.‘
Another name. though. has elevated Shriver‘s literary status more than any other: Kevin Khatchadourian. He lurks monstroust away in the middle ground of her Orange Prize winning novel. We Need to Talk About Kevin. which revolves around a Columbine-style killing spree by a IS-year-old boy. At the time of its 2003 publication. it joined a busy cultural field. including Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. Douglas Coupland's Hey Nostrrulamus.’ and DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little all of which tackle this traumatic area. But Shriver’s novel took an altogether different tack. The story is told by Eva. the boy's mother. via letters to her estranged husband Franklin during the winter of 2000 and summer of 2001 as she reflects on her own hell and seeks some kind of closure. The horrifying conclusion is that she just might not have loved her son enough.
28 WE LIST 11—25 May 2006
‘Some take moral exception to Eva‘s hostilin toward her own child.‘ Shriver notes. ‘I had a woman
in Dublin announce at a reading that it was “one of
the only books she‘d read that she regretted reading." She went on to explain that mothers were morally bound to love their children. Some parents have been grateful to have their story told (I've heard from an alarmingly large number who claim to have 21 “Kevin” of their own) and other couples tell me they've found the book a useful springboard for discussion on whether to have children.‘
On the back of Kevin's success comes Double Fault. her sixth novel. originally published in the States in 1997. which features a further couple in torment. Willy (another female with a chap‘s name) and Eric. Tennis players of varying ability. their competitive drives threaten to force a wedge between their love. While the author is unrelated to Pam. the American star of the late 70s and 80s courts. she does confess to having held a racquet or two in her time. ‘I am an avid. if bad. amateur player. My father taught me to play and those sessions when he took us to the courts constituted some of the only time he spent with us. That's one of the reasons my associations with the sport are so warm. I think I take more pure pleasure in walloping a tennis ball back and forth for a couple of hours than in any other activity in the world.‘ Game. set and match. Shriver.
Double Fault and the paperback of We Need to Talk About Kevin are out now published by Serpent's Tail.
* Lionel Shriver While her 1997 tennis/marriage drama Double Fault comes to us for the very first time, just as much attention will be iocussed on her controversial. award- winning novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin. See preview. left. Serpent '5 Tail.
* Alan Warner The Oban- born, Ireland-based author gives us another bunch of oddballs and a gallery of glorious imagery in The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven. It's dead good. Jonathan Cape.
* David Lloyd One of the sacred few who actually likes the screen version of his V for Vendetta comic classic continues to enjoy success with that epic tome. while his Kickback is out soon. DC/Titan; Dark Horse.
* Liz Smith The crazy old bean from The Roy/e Family and the voice oi Mrs Mulch in Curse of the Were-Rabbit has lots of tales of a long old life as she shows up to promote her autobiography. Our Betty. See Events caption. Waterstone's, Glasgow, Thu 11 May.
3|! Edinburgh Rush Festival The annual eclectic bonanza comes to town. Details of everything that's going down are available on edrush.com. Various venues, Edinburgh, Fri 19—Sun 28 May.
3|! Christopher Brookmyre The anticipation is almost unbearable as Scotland’s hottest satirical crime scribe (pictured) gets set to bring us A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil. Come along to this event and hear all about it. See preview. next issue. Waterstone’s, Glasgow, Wed 24 May.
* Stuart McLean The Canadian broadcaster and author of Home from the Vinyl Cafe returns with his new one. It's Vinyl Café Unplugged would you believe? Edinburgh English Speaking Union, Edinburgh. Wed 24 May.