Books
MONICA ALI Alentejo Blue T O...
Monica Ali is a comparatively recent addition to the British literary scene, but already enjoys the kind of publicity few writers achieve in a lifetime. Her nomination as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists of the decade came about before her debut Brick Lane had even been published. Such a widely proclaimed author has much to prove and, a few pages into this follow-up which interweaves the stories of residents and tourists in the Portuguese village of Mamarossa, you sense you're in the safe hands of a skilled storyteller.
Alentejo Blue shares the specific geographical canvas of Ali’s debut, as well as that novel‘s keen eye for detail and rich characterisation. Bar owner Vasco finds refuge from his humdrum reality in memories of a spell in the US. Teresa dreams of a future ‘outside‘ the village. Meanwhile, the Potts family keep curtains twitching with their poor, white trashy antics, while the writer Stanton plods through a biography of William Blake. There’s little in the way of light relief from these disappointed lives and lost loves, but the rather dreary subject matter is offset by Ali‘s fresh, lyrical prose.
While more akin to a collection of loosely connected fragments than a novel, Alentejo Blue confirms Ali’s promise, marking her out as a heavily touted young writer who's actually worth the hype, and should now begin to command column inches for the strength of her writing rather than the size of her advance. (Allan Radcliffe)
4 ,no rer1||\,l. Heat is a plastic surgen, obsessed singer nox‘. relaced tov.'e.1iiiig.'1 i'iask as his tace has basically fallen off ‘rorii all the operations All nowexei is not as 't seems and Sara's fame v.:l' \‘tll‘lt? .1‘. a price. \"v'tfl‘. the depressing start o‘ tl‘e latest Big B't‘fher fr'x1kshov., this could hate been a times release, the (Cillll\ heum er 1s .1 big/gm mess than Michael Jackson's face. The language is o\er:y sin‘plistic even. for its designated teen audiencei. reading like a cross between a photo stem from Jtic‘h’c‘ and the script of a preposterous Hoi/i oaks spin-oft. The premise is set up so otiicklx and
32 THE LIST on." ‘
the ,liinax so obvious that .lespite its brevity it seems to take a lifetiriie to reach its highly, detlatori,’ denoueiiient. If‘iordon lildretti
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It must be the autobiograi)lier's worst i'llgllillléllO. You're all set for your collected memories to be released and then soiriethng rnonuniental goes and happens. So. Nanm Sorr'ell gives birth to twin girls and makes Vic Reeves the happiest semi»surrealst comedian in the world. Exce it. that problem lsn't quite gerrnane here. as this first
volume takes Reeves up to age 20 and the moment when he fled from Yorkshire to London in search of showbi/ fame and fortune.
With Jim Moir being Vic‘s real name, this is the finest autobiography title ever. even though his publishers initially rejected rt. Early on. Reeves Moir tells us he likes telling little white lies. leaving us open to persistent disbelief: did he really encounter Peter Sutcliffe’? Did he enjoy tlirowrng Action Men over pylons? Was hrs first band actually called TrOut’? Mes/lion is not hugely enlightening about his comical inspirations. but it is vastly entertaining. We await the real stuff in volume two.
(Brian Donaldsoni
scquLESSAys JOHN PILGER
Freedom Next Time iBantam Press .00.
The author's broad smile on the racket of Freedom Next Time is somewhat misleading. John Pilger's happy demeanour is in direct contrast to his
traumatic material, though maybe this is Just the only way he can get through the day considering the state- sponsored atrocities he's witnessed down the years. While the Australian investigative Journalist is far from an apologist of the terror inflicted by anti— government forces arOLind the globe. his main target has always been leaders who wreld power unjustly.
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He begins wrth the Chagos islanders who were forCibly removed from their Indian Ocean paradise in the 60s to make room for an American military base and tennis c0urts. The masswe cover-up and subsequent legal
manoeuvring to prevent the Chagossrans (armed wrth their British Citizenship) from returning home, is a stain on democracy. By the time you plough through the desperate fates of normal South Africans, Afghans and Indians. yOu'll be laughing through the tears. (Brian Donaldson)
POETRY COLLECTION
The Terrorist at My Table (Bloodaxe) COO
lmtiaz Dharker has certainly lived a life. Born in Lahore. she grew up as a Muslim Calvrnist in Glasgow before eloping to Bombay With a Hindu lndian. These days she diVideS her time between Wales. England and India. and if anyone has the unique position of looking at the torrid state of world affairs and multi-nation relations from different angles. it's her. But it's her Sympathy With the outSiders and minorities leveryone is in a minority somewhere) that are the deepest and most
ALSO PUBLISHED
Kata Harrison Brown Owl's Guide to Life Tearing through her dead mum's artefacts. Lucy discovers that the past may have more to teach her than she first believes. Orion. Jason Elliot Miners of the Unseen The author of Travels in Afghanistan turns his adventurous attention towards Iran and shatters a few tired old myths in the process. Picador. Poto Burns Freak Unique Would this memoir have ever seen the light of day without his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother? Don't be soft. John Blake.
Jan Morris Hav Twenty years since Last Letters from Hav. Morris updates her completely made- up city as it struggles to survive from an unwanted colonial invasion. Faber. Madeleine Albrlght The Mighty and the Almighty With a foreword by Bill Clinton, this book argues that while politics and religion are rather difficult to separate. they can actually be of mutual benefit. Macmillan.
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pOIgiiant eleriients of this collection.
In 'Close'. she writes: ‘in a place where no one speaks your tongue. you are a child again' while in another piece we get this: 'Our families have scattered . . . the village has changed . . . I'm not sure if anyone knows us any more.’ It could so easuy be about the displaced people of the Gaza Strip; in fact its location and title is ‘CampSie Fells'.
(Brian Donaldsom