Read alotta books - forget alotta books.

This page is more for me to keep track of books I’ve read than to enlighten the world, but if someone else benefits as well then its been worth the pixels.

VICIOUS SPRING by Hollis Hampton-Jones

I wanted to know what happened to Christy, the heroin of this never boring little novel, right from the first page. But I kept putting the book down, because I suspected things were going to go badly for her. And that when they did Hampton-Jones would describe it so well I’d feel too much. Then I’d pick it straight back up again because it is compelling reading. I won’t spoil the ending except to say don’t expect anything heavily melodramatic. This gritty slice of life if too slick for moralistic certainties. Strangely light and heavy at the same time.

FACTOTUM by Charles Bukowski

Macho fantasy and quaintly candid honesty make this an interesting tale of piss artistry. The scene where his lush slut girlfriend bandages his testicles after he’s tried to self medicate the crabs she’s given him made me laugh out loud.

Moving from job to job cos he’s such a drunken looser the most astounding thing about his story is how easily he keeps getting work. I guess that was what it was like in post war America, but it seems astounding to anyone not from that time or place. I’ve always thought addiction is for the chronically privileged. Gotta go I need more wine…

COYOTE BLUE by Christopher Moore

This is a fantasy novel that Brett made me read. Normally this stuff leaves me feeling… superior, but not in a good way.

But this is a very funny little book. Much much better than Neil Gaiman’s  ‘American Gods‘ or ‘Anansi Boys‘.

Native Americans, hippy girls, insurance salesmen, surfies, bikers and a seven foot black casino henchman. This could be the stuff stereotype dreams are made of, but Moore is too slick for that. All the characters and the dialogue are fresh and down to earth. The story is nothing new - the trickster god wrecks the life of a man in a rut. But this is a smart and soulful satire.