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.
-
FeaturesJonathan Safran Foer on Here I Am
Here I Am is being declared Jonathan Safran Foer's masterpiece: a term he will hear nothing of. He discusses the controversies a book which features a Middle... Read more »| 05 Sep 2016 -
Book ReviewsTurning Blue by Benjamin Myers
The new book from last year's Portico Prize winner is a tour de force of stark horror writing Read more »| 05 Sep 2016 -
FeaturesHollie McNish's Charlotte Church factfile
Ahead of Charlotte Church's Late Night Pop Dungeon headlining this month's Neu! Reekie! Celts night at the National Museum of Scotland, poet Hollie McNi... Read more »| 02 Sep 2016 -
FestivalsWhy Are Economists Topping the Non-Fiction Charts?
This year’s Manchester Literature Festival has a good number of events looking at economic ideas and how they shape us, from Yuval Noah Harari speaking... Read more »| 02 Sep 2016 -
Features
Poetry News: Edinburgh Book Festival recap
Our poetry columnist looks back on her favourite events during Edinburgh's Festival month, being inspired particularly by the merging of forms, crossing cultural borders and breaking down barriers Read more »| 01 Sep 2016 -
Features
Murder at the Golden Lion: Bloody Scotland returns
In anticipation of Bloody Scotland in Stirling this September, crime author Russel D McLean takes a look at The Murder at the Golden Lion: A Case for the Great Detective (apologies to Agatha Christie – and all Golden Age crime writers) Read more »| 31 Aug 2016
-
Book Reviews
Dear Mr M by Herman Koch
Mr M is a writer, and he’s being stalked by his neighbour. The stalker, our narrator, really doesn’t like Mr M. He watches the writer with contem... Read more »| 26 Aug 2016 -
Book Reviews
The Glue Ponys: Short Stories by Chris Wilson
Of all the elements of a book which might kindle our interest, the positioning of an author’s biography rarely so much as prompts a raised eyebrow. But... Read more »| 26 Aug 2016 -
Features
Ron Rash: “In America we’re in such a dark place"
With his outstanding new work Above the Waterfall, the highly acclaimed US author Ron Rash tries to draw the 'wonder' from a snarling modern America. He talks about the novel here, and why while a proud Southern writer, don't precede that with 'just a' Read more »| 19 Aug 2016 -
Festivals
Agnes Török & Chimwemwe Undi: Speaking with Feeling
The best and worst problem for a reviewer to have is this: the best kind of event will not let itself be neatly described in 300 words. Some things you canno... Read more »| 18 Aug 2016 -
Festivals
Laura Bates: A Manifesto for Empowered Women
Did you know that more men are sitting in Westminster right now than there have been female MPs in the entirety of British history? And that in our country, ... Read more »| 18 Aug 2016 -
Events
Edinburgh Book Festival: Helen Mort & Claire Askew
'You’re imagining her life… but you’re miles off.' Playful, self-referencing and blunt: these lines from Claire Askew’s poem Picker ... Read more »| 16 Aug 2016 -
Features
Walking the Lights: Glasgow's Feminist Withnail & I
Deborah Andrews' highly recommeded debut novel Walking the Lights offers an authentic portrayal of 90s Glasgow slackerdom. Here we present an exclusive extra... Read more »| 15 Aug 2016 -
Book Reviews
The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock
The revisionist treatment of the American West has gathered pace over decades, with John Wayne’s pristine duds and decency decomposing into Deadwood's ... Read more »| 06 Aug 2016 -
Features
Poetry News – Scotland, August 2016
It’s festival season again in Auld Reekie – this one’s going to be a good 'un, with plenty of must-see poetry events to add to your list Read more »| 05 Aug 2016