list.co.uk/books Reviews | BOOKS
DARK HUMOUR DOUGLAS COUPLAND Worst. Person. Ever. (William Heinemann) ●●●●●
Since his hugely influential 1991 debut Generation X, Canadian author Douglas Coupland has proven himself an expert at appraising the life and culture of the affluent, technology-infused West with scathing humour and subtle compassion. For his thirteenth novel, Coupland has rightly sensed the need to do something different, and has opted for gleeful irresponsibility. In Worst. Person. Ever. he forgoes depth and substance for the
chance to loosen all restraints and behave badly. He does so in the voice of Raymond Gunt (really), an English cameraman whose capacity for obscene commentary on life, women and the world at large knows no limits. When Gunt takes a job from his TV producer ex-wife Fiona
(‘the Anti-shag’) on island-based reality show Survival, a series of increasingly ridiculous world-changing events is set in motion. What follows is like an inverse Forrest Gump as Gunt travels from one bizarre encounter to the next dispensing sarcasm and invective, told through the mucky filter of his sex- obsessed stream of consciousness.
Coupland’s previously unexplored ability to reel off filthy zingers is stunning, and often hilarious, but his greater achievement is in making Gunt both wholly despicable and strangely sympathetic. That said, this is certainly not a novel for readers with a low tolerance for vulgarity; to say Gunt revels in profanity is putting it lightly. If Coupland set out to tell the dirtiest joke he could think of, he has definitely succeeded. It’s funny, even if it is just one long joke. (Paul Gallagher)
SHORT STORIES KYLE MINOR Praying Drunk (Sarabande) ●●●●● LITERARY HORROR PATRICK MCCABE Hello and Goodbye (Quercus) ●●●●●
Kyle Minor is well-known in the US underground lit scene, and the stories from Praying Drunk have been popping up in literary magazines and anthologies for several years. At first glance, this is a collection of angry- young-American tropes: pistol suicide, trailer parks, violent men and bitter women. But as the stories unfold, there’s
something much more complex and interesting at work, and often the tales are so raw, so deeply unpleasant, that the urge to look away from the book is irresistible. In one piece, a bullied child contemplates the apocalypse while tracing his legacy of violence and guilt; in another, an artist explores the various madnesses of his wife’s forest- dwelling family.
At times, the line between fiction and non-fiction is blurred or even thoroughly erased, with ‘dear reader’ interjections which work beautifully. The UK’s small presses have notably been publishing some of the finest and most unusual writing around and Praying Drunk proves that this is happening in America too. (Kirsty Logan)
Propelled into the literary limelight by his violent 1992 novel The Butcher Boy, Patrick McCabe returns with a duo of Halloween stories, Hello and Goodbye. ‘Hello Mr Bones’ tells the tale of two lovers, feminist Chris Taylor and Irish teacher Valentine Shannon. A story preoccupied with sexual abuse, trauma and haunting, McCabe revisits themes he has previously addressed but his stark, black humour and twist on popular culture – Betty Boop becomes a symbol of abuse – still propels the reader into a dark, eerie world. The twin epistle, ‘Goodbye Mr Rat’,
uses similar methods to tell the story of Beni Banikin and Gabriel King. Slower to start and rooted more heavily in the trials of Northern Ireland, it’s equally haunting in its exploration of society. Although not quite as sharp as some
of McCabe’s previous writing, Hello and Goodbye moves away from the gory horror we’ve become so used to seeing in his work, instead terrifying the reader using subtle and intelligent methods. His prose remains as brilliantly macabre as ever. (Lydia Willgress)
HISTORICAL FICTION ALISON MACLEOD Unexploded (Hamish Hamilton) ●●●●●
With its cover imitating the design for Ian McEwan’s bestseller Atonement, there’s clearly a hope that Unexploded can capitalise on that novel's success. However, with its unimaginative narrative, bad prose and flat characters, it's frankly bamboozling why Alison MacLeod’s WWII book was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Living in Brighton with Geoffrey, her banker husband turned internment camp superintendent, Evelyn begins an affair with a German-Jewish detainee. Exploring relevant themes such as imprisonment without trial, racism and the costs of war, Unexploded could have been a blistering piece. Sadly, we’re let down by pointless description, a pedestrian plot riddled with cliché and overuse of simile and metaphor.
A paragraph comparing love to
war that begins ‘There is no invasion as fearful as love’ sums up all that’s wrong with Unexploded. If you’re after a book that conjures up WWII, does the weighty subject justice and gets under your skin, this isn’t it. (Ever Dundas)
PHOTOGRAPHY PETER MAY & DAVID WILSON Hebrides (Quercus) ●●●●●
It’s understandable that Scottish city- dwellers, in their landscape of concrete and streetlights, can forget that they’re living in a breathtakingly beautiful country. Luckily, David Wilson’s photographs are here to remind us. With images of moody skies in shades
of grey and purple, hulking wrecks, dramatic beaches and the occasional patch of green, the focus is certainly on the natural rather than the domestic. When buildings do make an appearance, there’s a real sadness to the images of abandoned blackhouses and run-down sheds.
Peter May’s text provides an overview
of the islands’ history and geology. Fans of his Hebrides-set crime novels will appreciate the musings on how the islands inspired his books and scriptwriting on 1980s soap opera Take the High Road. However, the text is not quite interesting enough, and it’s hard not to be distracted by the dramatic photos. The publishers seem to recognise this, as the images dominate the pages with the text tucked around the edges. Despite the rather flimsy prose, the glorious photography is more than enough to recommend Hebrides. (Kirsty Logan)
19 Sep–17 Oct 2013 THE LIST 45