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 ReviewsA Decent Ride by Irvine Welsh
By the end of the first chapter of Irvine Welsh's new book, Edinburgh cab driver ‘Juice’ Terry Lawson has managed to secure himself a ten grand d... Read more »| 01 Apr 2015 -
FeaturesLiving Memory: Patricia Duncker reimagines George Eliot
The appetite for Victoriana is endless; it seems we can’t get enough of corsets and bonnets. As Patricia Duncker releases a new novel, she talks to us about the neo-Victorian tale, her fascination with George Eliot and the nature of literary celebrity Read more »| 01 Apr 2015 -
FeaturesAye Write! All Write: 10 Years of Literature in Glasgow
We discover how literary festival Aye Write! has become a key date in the Glasgow cultural calendar, speaking to its guest programmer and the writers who have grown with it: Louise Welsh, Christopher Brookmyre, Alan Bissett and his birthday suit. Read more »| 31 Mar 2015 -
FeaturesKarin Altenberg: “I’ve always felt like an outsider”
We chat to bestselling author Karin Altenberg about her new book Breaking Light, and landscapes lost and found Read more »| 31 Mar 2015 -
Events
Northwest Book Highlights – April 2015
A brand new poetry series launches in Liverpool this month, while non fiction and spoken word nights continue to thrive in Manchester Read more »| 31 Mar 2015 -
Book Reviews
The Discreet Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa
The latest novel from this Nobel Prize-winning writer examines a web of corruption that extends from the world of business to the heart of family life. There... Read more »| 30 Mar 2015
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Book Reviews
The Honours by Tim Clare
Tim Clare is a stand-up poet and the author of award-winning memoir We Can’t All Be Astronauts. His debut novel, The Honours, is a tightly pl... Read more »| 27 Mar 2015 -
Book Reviews
Black Mass by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill
This true-crime classic reveals Scorsese’s The Departed as slight exaggeration rather than full-blown fabrication. His Frank Costello was, if anything,... Read more »| 27 Mar 2015 -
News
Scottish Book Trust unveils Journeys project
The Scottish Book Trust and National Theatre of Scotland have launched a call for submissions for Journeys, a new project exploring the various voyages, excu... Read more »| 25 Mar 2015 -
Book Reviews
Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
Chiefly famous as the bass player and co-vocalist for defunct New York post-punkers Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon wrote this memoir in the wake of her split from T... Read more »| 11 Mar 2015 -
FeaturesCreature Creators: The Critter Shed publish their first comic
The founders of The Critter Shed publishing collective explain why they decided to put out their first comic Read more »| 06 Mar 2015 -
Events
Northwest Book Highlights – March 2015
The beginning of spring brings some anarchic spoken word, an interactive storytelling experience and the return of a great novelist Read more »| 06 Mar 2015 -
Features
Utopian Thinking: News from Nowhere on the Power of Literature
As the general election approaches, it will be impossible to avoid the ambush of political soundbites and slogans. The Skinny talks to radical bookshop News from Nowhere about the link between politics and language – and the fate of independent bookstores Read more »| 06 Mar 2015 -
Features
The Shame Game: Jon Ronson on his divisive new book
We chat to the award-winning writer Jon Ronson about his new book So You've Been Publicly Shamed, and discuss the need for empathy in our increasingly perilous digital landscape, where the unwary are lynched in 140 characters or less Read more »| 04 Mar 2015 -
Books
Mark Ellen: Pop Court Chronicler
Mark Ellen has documented late 20th century pop music's biggest moments in his memoir Rock Stars Stole My Life! Here he regales us with tales of those times and offers a lament on why modern day stars just don't cut the mustard (or anything else) Read more »| 04 Mar 2015