www.list.co.uk/books SATIRCAL TALE SAM LIPSYTE The Ask (Old Street) ●●●●●
Reviews Books ALSO PUBLISHED
the adult whose shin he has just kicked. Given that this adult is not his parent, the incident leads to recriminations, family fall-outs and legal proceedings. All of this is communicated through eight distinct voices, each of whom is assigned a chapter. Linked either by blood, friendship or marriage, the characters embody a fascinating cross- section of Melbourne society, with its melting pot of cultures. From teenagers taking drugs and experimenting with sex, through fortysomethings tackling career crises and infidelity, to an octogenarian watching his friends die off, Tsiolkas captures them all with astute sensitivity. So that regardless of whether we like them, we can at least understand. In the face of such insight, the slap itself is rendered almost irrelevant. (Kelly Apter)
COMIC/FILM EDWARD ROSS Filmish #2 (Chiaroscuro) ●●●●●
Just in time for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh- based comic writer Edward Ross returns with the second instalment of his comic treatise on film theory. This second issue is more ambitious, with Ross devoting the entire title to ‘Sets and Architecture’, using movies like The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Metropolis and Blade Runner to illustrate his points. But it is perhaps the inclusion and dissection of films such as Die Hard, James Bond and the Bourne series and the relation of their protagonists to their surroundings that is the most illuminating. Educational and entertaining, his clean,
Satire has become a dirty word in Britain, devalued through excessive application to intelligent but superficial, self-satisfied observations of our uncertain times. In the US though, where The Daily Show and The Onion set the standard, Sam Lipsyte’s fourth novel reiterates that a dark heart still beats in the belly of the 9/11- wounded beast. Less bleak than Joseph Heller’s jaundiced Something Happened, nevertheless The Ask evokes a comparable panorama of misery, ennui and failure, even if, line-for-line, it’s much funnier. Succumbing pitifully to
middle-age, unsuccessful artist Milo views his aggressive toddler with a mixture of pride and fear, remaining more-or-less ambivalent about his wife’s potential infidelity. Fired from his job soliciting money for a university, he’s offered one last chance at an ‘ask’ of his wealthy, enigmatic college friend Purdy, seeking a favour himself. Tautly, hilariously written, Lipsyte endows his characters with a devastating combination of complete self- awareness and impotence. (Jay Richardson)
SOCIAL DRAMA CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS The Slap (Tuskar Rock) ●●●●● Christos Tsiolkas may have chosen the eponymous chastisement to hang his novel on, but his engaging look at Australian life could easily have functioned without it. The slap in question is visited upon an ill-mannered child by
MEMOIR CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Hitch-22 (Atlantic) ●●●●●
Many of history’s key figures have contradictory sides to their nature. Churchill was a focused leader who often sank a quart of vodka before lunch. Hitler loved animals so much he couldn’t bring himself to chomp on them, but was less sentimental when it came to millions of humans. Napoleon was a towering military genius who got into uncontrollable furies over his lack of height. While Christopher Hitchens would no doubt blush at being bracketed with that lot (though considering the steadfastness of his opinions, you have to conclude that he is, at the very least, pretty sure of himself), he clearly shares their dualities. Indeed, Hitch dubs himself a Janus, the god of Roman mythology who literally had two heads facing in opposite directions. He is Chris the Trot and Christopher the Oxford student dining expensively at fancy restaurants. An archetypal Englishman who ignored all of the USA’s vulgarities to become an American citizen; for those who fell in love with his writings about the left’s hate figures, the less said about his seeming shift to the right regarding US foreign policy, the better.
Unlike in most of his journalism, Hitchens gives himself a freer rein here to push the emotional buttons a little harder; so, his sections on his parents (aka his naval officer dad ‘The Commander’ and his mother Yvonne who killed herself in her twenties, an act that he is still brooding over) do show a softer side to the old polemicist. Love him or get really annoyed by him, you can’t ignore the fiery intellect and pure showmanship at play upon and between the lines of Hitch-22. (Brian Donaldson)
CRIME MYSTERY ADAM ROSS Mr Peanut (Jonathan Cape) ●●●●● A terse thriller, Mr Peanut pivots along three narrative threads, each of which takes a look at the sinister side of marriage, and two of which end in murder. That they do not become entangled is a testament to the skilfulness with which Adam Ross’ debut novel is written. Its intricate plotting sucks the air out of the story,
points of reference. The Hitchcock motif is laboured and the book’s Möbius strip framework feels a little forced. Moreover, its primary storyline is weak in comparison to its most absorbing sub-plot, a detailed exploration into the 1954 murder of Marilyn Sheppard in Cleveland, Ohio. This narrative is considerably more engaging than the rest of the novel, though its fast pace will keep you hanging on until the slightly confusing end. (Yasmin Sulaiman)
recreating the intense suffocation felt by its characters.
But while Ross clearly knows his craft, Mr Peanut is let down by overly self-conscious
5 PAPERBACK MEMOIRS OUT IN JULY Buzz Aldrin Magnificent Desolation The never-dull story of the moon landing and Buzz’s subsequent struggle to cope. Bloomsbury. Alex Marsh Sex & Bowls & Rock and Roll A terribly witty blog-to-book affair about a disillusioned househusband who finds solace in his village bowls team. Friday Project. Kelly Osbourne Fierce An insight into a troubled life with tips for teenage girls on how to cope. Especially if you happen to have multi-millionaires for parents. Virgin. Mark Radcliffe Thank You for the Days The hugely popular Radio 2 jock posts a love letter to music as he recalls the best and worst days of his life. Pocket. Emma Smith Maidens’ Trip Dubbed ‘The Land Girls of the waterways’, this features three middle classies who ‘manned’ some narrow boats during World War II. Bloomsbury.
simplistic art helps to draw you through various aspects of what could be confusing and complex ideas if they weren’t so nicely translated into comic form. This comic is available from Edinburgh’s Filmhouse and via edwardmaross.blogspot. com and we can only hope there’s more to come. (Henry Northmore) 10-24 Jun 2010 THE LIST 41