Books
The Skinny book guide – bringing you book reviews, features, events, reviews and author interviews. Find previews and on the ground reporting from festivals of literature and poetry in Scotland and beyond.
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FeaturesChristopher Brookmyre: Creating Pandaemonium
A chat with Christopher Brookmyre about his new book, Pandaemonium, demons, quantum physics, and the nature of reality. Read more »| 25 Aug 2009 -
FestivalsEIBF: David Sedaris
The first of The Skinny’s events, and a good one at that. Chairman Al Senter started things off by saying his role would be mostly redundant, and so it... Read more »| 25 Aug 2009 -
Events
Bletherheads, The Electric Circus, 29 Aug
AL Kennedy, Tam Dean Burn and Somerset Maugham award winner Rodge Glass are invited by the organisers of DiScomBoBuLate to show what they can do in a new per... Read more »| 25 Aug 2009 -
FeaturesEwan Morrison Speaks.
Four books in five years is an impressive standard for any successful author. Ewan Morrison seems to have made up for lost time in writing fiction. Starting with a collection of short stories followed by two novels, Ewan’s most recent release – Ménage – set in the Young British Artist scene of 90s London sees three characters engage in an enveloping ménage a trois. In an undisturbed university room in the heart of Glasgow, Ewan talks about the book and the engine that runs it. Read more »| 17 Aug 2009 -
FeaturesDavid Simon: Journalism's Loss, Television's Gain
The Skinny is sponsoring The Wire creator David Simon's event at the Edinburgh international Book festival. Peter Geoghegan spoke to him about his books, his TV shows, and his views on drugs, politics, and America. He didn't disappoint. Read more »| 28 Jul 2009 -
Festivals
Tipped at the Top: Richard Holloway on his Highlights for the 2009 Book Festival
Richard Holloway was appointed as Guest Director of this year’s Book Festival after departing Director Catherine Lockerbie had picked the programme. Still, who better to pick from the big names than the writer, theologian, and controversial former bishop? Read more »| 23 Jul 2009
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Festivals
David Sedaris and David Simon: A cheat's guide.
Going to see David Sedaris or David Simon, but don't quite know what you're letting yourself in for? Here's a rough guide to them. Read more »| 07 Jul 2009 -
Book Reviews
Sum by David Eagleman
This slim volume is a cult book waiting to happen. For starters, David Eagleman is described on the jacket as a ‘neuroscientist and writer’, a cu... Read more »| 02 Jul 2009 -
Book Reviews
The Fire Gospel by Michael Faber
Remember The Da Vinci Code? Consider this the antidote. In The Fire Gospel Michael Faber has fun satirizing that book and its horrible ilk. His plot involves... Read more »| 01 Jul 2009 -
Book Reviews
Bad Boy Drive by Robert Sellers
David Lynch’s 2001 film added much to the surreal and schizophrenic nature of Mulholland Drive, a long and winding beauty spot outside Hollywood, and h... Read more »| 30 Jun 2009 -
Book Reviews
Lennox by Craig Russell
Lennox is, we are promised, the first book in a series about a ‘fixer’ in 1950s Glasgow, by author Craig Russell who once served as a police offi... Read more »| 29 Jun 2009 -
Festivals
It's Book Festival Time Again...
Next month it’s time again for the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which runs 15 – 31 of August. Tickets are on sale now, so with that in mind, here’s our handy guide to the best at the fest. Read more »| 25 Jun 2009 -
Book ReviewsChocolate and Cuckoo Clocks by Alan Coren
Alan Coren was familiar to many from TV and radio panel shows up until his death in 2007. He was a very funny man in those, and he is a very funny man in thi... Read more »| 24 Jun 2009 -
Events
The Skinny’s Events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival: David Sedaris and David Simon.
Sedaris. Simon. Skinny. Read more »| 11 Jun 2009 -
Features
Roberto Bolano: Master of Tragic Realism
Chilean author Roberto Bolano is the literary discovery of the minute. His works are just now being translated in to English, and so English language critics... Read more »| 01 May 2009