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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Book ReviewsThe Girls by Emma Cline
Emma Cline's much-anticipated debut shows its hand immediately: 'They herd everyone into the living room. The moment the frightened people understand th... Read more »| 31 May 2016 -
FeaturesImmersed in Danger: Reporters Risking Death
Two journalists who walked into the lion’s den: Wolfgang Bauer went undercover to share the journey of Syrian refugees fleeing the terror of war, while Jürgen Todenhöfer confronted that terror, spending ten days as a guest of the Islamic State Read more »| 31 May 2016 -
Book ReviewsYoung Soul Rebels by Stuart Cosgrove
A familiar voice for many, Stuart Cosgrove looks into the enigmatic Northern Soul music scene in his latest book. From the musicians who echoed over the spea... Read more »| 31 May 2016 -
Book Reviews
#UntitledTwo by Neu! Reekie!
Neu! Reekie! – well, they’ve done it again. The sumptuous gold cover of #UntitledTwo is a gorgeous, shimmering temptation. Pause to admire the co... Read more »| 30 May 2016 -
Book Reviews
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
It’s a skilful, masterful memoir: tracing one man’s obsession with surfing that takes him from teenage years in Hawaii to adulthood spent on far-... Read more »| 27 May 2016 -
Book Reviews
Noon In Paris, Eight In Chicago by Douglas Cowie
Love: the greatest adventure; a high-stakes, perilous undertaking; a long-odds gamble, for the greatest reward. Its possibilities so often flail un... Read more »| 13 May 2016
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FeaturesOn the Rocks: Writing on Addiction
This collection of writing looks across the spectrum of addiction: highs and lows, revelry and regret. Acceptance, treatment and recovery. The Skinny introduces abridged extracts, plotting points on the life of a rock'n'roll poet crashing into the cliffs Read more »| 10 May 2016 -
Book Reviews
Lunatics, Lovers and Poets ed. by Hahn & Valencia
This collection gracefully exhibits 12 previously unpublished pieces inspired by two literary giants: Cervantes and Shakespeare. With six English language au... Read more »| 10 May 2016 -
Book Reviews
The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam
Tahmima Anam first declared herself with the award-winning 2007 novel A Golden Age, soon followed by its equally acclaimed sequel The Good Muslim. These... Read more »| 10 May 2016 -
Book Reviews
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
You can forget about the empty savannah, the deep jungle and the native peoples mystically in touch with nature and a purer, simpler past. This is a book abo... Read more »| 09 May 2016 -
Book Reviews
Zero K by Don DeLillo
“What’s the point of living if we don’t die at the end if it?” observes a nameless monk in Don DeLillo’s seventeenth novel. It&... Read more »| 09 May 2016 -
Features
Joe Hill on new novel The Fireman
Joe Hill – aka Joseph Hillstrom King – has followed up his hit novels Horns and NOS 4R2 with the post-apocalyptic tale The Fireman. Ahead of its ... Read more »| 06 May 2016 -
Events
Northwest Book Highlights – May 2016
This month we mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, and the Northwest plays host to a whole load of festivals, including Manchester After Hours,... Read more »| 04 May 2016 -
Tech
Indie Games: The Complete Introduction to Indie Gaming
Given the fledgling status of what’s considered the modern ‘indie game’, it’s perhaps little surprise that there’s hardly been ... Read more »| 12 Apr 2016 -
Book ReviewsAll That Man Is by David Szalay
Or: all that man isn't. Male readers beware – Szalay is in no mood to gloss over the shortcomings of his gender as he exposes with clear-sighted precis... Read more »| 05 Apr 2016