INTERACTION

Recently finished "Shakey", the biography of Neil Young. What a life that man's had...

Every time I see that book I immediately think it's a biography of Shakin' Stevens...

Currently reading Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North, by Stuart Maconie, which all soft Southern jessies should read at once.

Just read my first non fiction book The Cost Of Living by Arundhati Roy It contains two eassys.
First one called The Greater Common Good she chronicles the struggle of some people fighting the indian goverment to built a dam where they are living.
The second ones called The End of Imagination its about India's decision to 'go nuclear'.I always think when people talk about nuclar missiles etc that it will only take one person to press a button and it will be the end of the world as we know it

John Prebble's 'The Darien Disaster'. He's a clunky, untidy writer with an occasional ability to throw in a beautiful sentence. Unfortunately there are not many other books on this subject. Scotland's failed attempt to start a colony in Panama just over three centuries ago brought the country to its knees, and it's a footnote (if that) in other countries' histories and a total embarrassment in Scotland. Publishers must go white when a writer mentions it.

THE CALIPH'S HOUSE by Tahir Shah. Gripping and often extremely funny account of Mr Shah's trials and tribulations in acquiring and converting a big house in Casablanca. And for genre buffs there are jinns in the house!

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS by Augusten Burroughs. Deeply strange childhood involving a dysfunctional family, a dysfunctional psychotherapist and general madness and mayhem. Burroughs manages the feat of making a troubled childhood extremely funny.

TEACHER MAN by Frank McCourt. Angela's Ashes author's experiences of teaching in New York. Affectionate, very real, beautifully written...rivetting.

And here was I thinking I read far too much fiction. My non fiction count has definitely gone up this year.

There's a film of that out now, I think.

Browsing Anime Encyclopedia by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, out this month from Stone Bridge Press / Titan Books. Revised and expanded edition covers 80 years and 3,000+ titles of Japanese animation. Who'd have thought the anime field would include 3 separate bio-pics (each) of such diverse figures as Columbus and Helen Keller?

_________________
Pigasus Press | VideoVista | The ZONE

Tony, yes, I believe there is a film. I haven't heard anything particularly positive about it, though. To be fair, the book is so mad that it would be difficult to make a convincing film out of.

I read in yesterday's Scotsman, though, that a film is due this winter of one of my favourite novels in the last couple of years: THE KITE RUNNER by Khalen Hosseini. I truly stunning, beautiful novel. Hope the film does some sort of justice to the tale.

On the subject of anime/manga, I got a massive tome, Manga Design by Wiedemann, Julius, published by Taschen, which included a DVD with creator interview and the like, for £10 from Fopp. Not sure if they still have it on sale there, though.





There's a film of that out now, I think.

I'm just about to begin Douglas Hofstadter's newie, I Am A Strange Loop.
Wish me luck...