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QUICK LIST - Click on the issue to save scrolling time | ||
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This Page | Alan Warner These Demented Lands - Kirsten Bakis
Lives of the Monster Dogs - Sarah Champion (editor)
Disco Biscuits- Slavenka Drakulic The Taste of a Man
- Mark Maxwell That Other Lifetime - Stewart
O'Nan Speed Queen - David Madson Confessions
of a Flesh-eater |
Page I | Jason Starr Cold Caller - Patricia Duncker Hallucinating Foucault - Mick Jackson The Underground Man - Penelope Evans Freezing- May-Lee Chai My Lucky Face - Darcey Steinke Jesus Saves - -Bertie Marshall Psychoboys - Nicholas Blincoe Jello salad -- Christopher Fowler Disturbia - Jim Grimsley My Drowning - Rafi Zabor The Bear Comes Home - Poppy Z. Brite (editor)Love in Vein 11 - Lisa St. Aubin de Teván The Palace - Ric Alexander (editor)Cyber-Killers An anthology - Matthew Collin Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House- Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things - Larry BakerFlamingo Rising - -Sandra Tsing Loh If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now |
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The following reviews appeared in issue 1, June 1, 1997
Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis, Farrar Straus Giroux
Sudden arrival in a future New York of large dogs with prosthetic hands
and voice boxes goes along just fine until an important part of the story
is told in the form of an operatic libretto. Downhill from then for me but
worth a read. (My spellcheck queried Straus and suggested 'Strays.') M.G.S
Disco Biscuits Edited by Sarah Champion, Sceptre
Anthology of 'New Fiction from the Chemical Generation'. An interesting
collection marking not just ten tears of Dance Culture since Acid House
but also the rise of a whole new writing scene in Britain that has attracted
a market that didn't know it wanted to read. Good, strong stories from Irvine
Welsh, Alan Warner, Jeff Noon and Nicholas Blincoe among others, all having
the techno/drugs/drink/sex/violence link at some point. Saved from being
a BritFic collection by inclusion of American Douglas Rushkoff. Recommended.
M.G.S
The Taste of a Man by Slavenka Drakulic, Abacus
Title, cover and author's name lead to obvious conclusion before reading
even starts. This makes the first few coy chapters tedious. If it had begun
"Last week I ate my boyfriend" then this tale of obsessive love
would have worked much better. M.G.S
For cannibals who like a little more..er.. meat
Confessions of a Flesh-eater David Madson, Deadalus Press,
should be to their liking, though it is recommended that in the rather interesting
recipes other types of meat be used. There is also follow up cookbook which
doesn't have a recipe for Spiced Girls. M.G.S
These Demented Lands by Alan Warner, Jonathan Cape
Marketed as a semi-sequel to the brilliant Morvern Callar , this follow
up bears little resemblance to the first although Morvern's voice rings
true and wiser with a few years. Set on an unnamed island off the coast
of Scotland with an amazing and entertaining array of characters with names
like Aircraft Investigator, Brotherhood, the Argonaut, the Devil's Advocate,
Nam the Dam, Knifegrinder, Halley's Comet, and Chef Macbeth, the whole sick
crew come together for an apocalyptic millennial rave. Not as accessible
as MC , but an enticing and daring novel. J. A.
That Other Lifetime by Mark Maxwell, Secker
An engaging novel about an imaginary meeting between Raymond Carver and
Richard Nixon at the end of their lives. Carver's cool calm and Nixon's
gutter mouth make for laughs as their parallel histories offer real insight
into their diverse personalities. Recommended for Carver fans. J. A.
Speed Queen by Stewart O'Nan. Doubleday
Hours before her execution for murder Marjorie answers 114 questions about
her life for 'Stephen King'. A simple, compelling non-violent story about
violence. M.G.S
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Contributors: Jill Adams, Michael Garry Smout
© The Barcelona Review