Just flew down from the Fortress of Solitude to offer this review of Irvine Welsh's Skagboys and Ben Brooks's Grow Up in lieu of something good. They say you should start an idle car at least once every couple of months just to make sure the engine can still turn over.
Back to the fortress.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A very subtle and funny writer - one I've become obsessed with over the past year - in a decidedly Muriel Spark mood. Imagine The Pr...
-
August over at Vestige.org has posted a long and very complimentary review/essay about my novel that morphs into a defense of the boring ol...
-
Mark Steyn is a dangerous idiot with a suspiciously homophobic streak for a bearded, show tunes-loving man who is drawn to big, strong, auth...
-
Terry Gilliam’s Tideland is getting some fairly harsh reviews so far, blasting it as a series of self-conciously “weird” visual images anch...
3 comments:
Good review. Does the Fortress have an elevator?
Good review. Does the Fortress have an elevator?
Like your take on Brooks's Grow Up, especially this bit: "It’s easy to dismiss the book as nothing but nihilistic nastiness, and given that the author is only 19, there is the whiff of a literary stunt about it all — especially in its smirkier, more self-aware moments, as when Jasper says he is 'Holden Caulfield, only less reckless, and more attractive.' However empty it may be, Grow Up is an undeniably fun read, thanks to the leanness of its prose and its sense of humour, which is as sharp as it is affected. This is Oscar Wilde with a Tumblr account, or Martin Amis remixed by Skrillex. And unlike Welsh’s long-in-the-tooth junkies, Jasper doesn’t outstay his welcome."
Post a Comment