Alistair McCartney

Books which purport to be something that they are not, in this case, a novel, face a difficult mountain to gain my favor. Although one easily impressed blurber claimed to find a plot herein, I remain dubious. Instead of a novel, it resembles more closely a series of pseudo-encyclopedia entries which are "flash essays", if I may, ostensibly on various topics but which invariably lead back to the reveries of an ephebomaniac whose sexual fantasies struck me as disturbing to the point of depressing.. The author is capable of deploying some inventive surrealism and he can be humorous, but there are plenty of authors out there who can be funny without every third sentence being offensive.… (meer)

I should state my personal connection here. Al was my best friend for a few years back in my late teens.

Jan 9, 2013: I'm ashamed to say I misplaced this for quite a while, largely because I left it lying around and my housemate tidied it away into a box in the back room which I've just gone through. I've been reading it a bit at a time, which seems to suit the encyclopaedic style. It's funny reading something written by Al. It's very good but I keep getting distracted by memories of our past friendship, stopping and remembering things and drifting off into reminiscence.

March 22, 2013: Almost finished and I've bloody put it down somewhere strange again. Not fair! I tend to wander around the house with it, but you'd think being a good, big, solid book it wouldn't keep disappearing.… (meer)