It would be a little disingenuous for me to say that I’ve no idea why I chose to read Anne Tyler’s “Redhead by the Side of the Road”. I chose it because the front cover boasted Booker long-listing; the back cover made it sound interesting; and it was on the ‘buy-one-get-one-half-price’ table at Waterstones. There.… Read More “Redhead by the Side of the Road”
Ocean Vuong’s novel, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”, pulls few punches. The subject matter almost demands it does not: homosexuality, the Vietnam war, being a post-war Vietnamese resident in the US, old age, love and death. Not a cocktail of subjects which lends itself to kid gloves perhaps. And given that cocktail, there could be… Read More “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”
With the exception of a couple of short stints in Europe and the Far East, I have lived in the UK all my life. This is where my – extended – family lives, and is home to the vast majority of my friends and ex-work colleagues. Two weeks ago I published my latest novel, On… Read More Home is (not) where the sales are…
If you’re like me, there will be music you listen to which reflects your mood – particularly at the extremes. Right now The Cure’s “Galore” is blasting out of my stereo, one of my ‘go to’ albums when I’m in a really good mood. Today the weather’s great, I went for a run first thing,… Read More Music: the barometer of your Happy Place?
Whether conventional or not, I’d just like to recognise those people who have bought my latest novel, “On Parliament Hill”, in the last week. So, “Thank you”. It means a lot to me. When you don’t have some massive publishing behemoth behind you driving publicity, working with bookshops etc., your readers – inevitably in smaller… Read More Is it acceptable to say ‘Thank You’?
Kevin Barry’s “Night Boat to Tangier” is, in many ways, an exceptional book. The first thing that hits you is the style in which it is written: unconventional; short, punchy sentences; lacking much of the traditional format of a novel. To be honest, this can be off-putting. For example, initially I was annoyed by the… Read More “Night Boat to Tangier”
While I enjoyed Elif Shafak’s unique “10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World”, I have to be upfront and say that I’m not sure how it made it to a Booker Prize shortlist. I couldn’t help but think that the conceit which provides the structure for the first part of the book – that… Read More “10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World”
My latest novel, “On Parliament Hill“, has now been published! Her voice is a trigger; a voice which forces Neil to relive the crises and failures of his past – one which offers him the possibility of a positive new future. But before he can decide on what he wants the life ahead of him… Read More Published today! “On Parliament Hill”
I was getting tired of being spammed by people using my website’s Contact page to do so. Something had to be done. So I added a checkbox that needed to be ticked in order for the contact form to be successfully sent. I thought this might filter out any automated messaging – and maybe help… Read More Think you’re secure with a WordPress ‘Contact’ page?
My latest novel, “On Parliament Hill“, is published next Friday, the 21st! Her voice is a trigger; a voice which forces Neil to relive the crises and failures of his past – one which offers him the possibility of a positive new future. But before he can decide on what he wants the life ahead… Read More New novel, out next week!
The irony was inescapable, concluding the reading of Colum McCann’s tremendously inventive novel “Apierogon” just as Arab-Israeli violence and tensions escalate to what is perhaps another inevitable war. The irony is that in “Apierogon” McCann presents us with a sliver of hope as two men – one Palestinian, the other Israeli – work together to… Read More “Apierogon”
A few days ago I posted a short message on a Goodreads thread asking for anyone who would like the opportunity to review my latest novel prior to publication to get in touch. I did not share my email address. Since then I have been emailed by numerous people all offering to review my book… Read More Why I have deleted my Goodreads.com account…
When I was contemplating this entry, it is surely telling that my primary concern was whether or not I should use the full title of Conrad’s novella. My instinct was to do so, but recognising that in these sensitive times certain words can be highly offensive and inflammatory, I have settled on an abridged version.… Read More Conrad’s “The…Narcissus”
It seemed like a good idea. I mean, I had some free time on my hands after all. Not for right now you understand, but for some point in the future – just in case ‘posterity’ might ever need it… Over the years I have written (thus far) a number of volumes of poetry, and… Read More The downside of looking back too far…
Whatever you do, don’t start reading Olga Tokarczuk’s “Flights” expecting to encounter a conventional novel – because you won’t. It is a fragmented, meandering creation with dozens of vignette’s nestling against each other, sometimes in a logical progression – but mostly not. Some of these are as long as twelve or more pages, the majority… Read More “Flights”
My sixth collection of poetry – “The Homelessness of a Child” – is published today, 1st April. Perhaps long overdue, a fair proportion is an exploration of the hardships and repercussions of my difficult childhood. As the intro says: “By the time Ian Gouge went to university he had already lived in seventeen different places… Read More Published today! “The Homelessness of a Child”
Over twenty years ago, a self-publishing company – BookSurge – was born in the US. Five years later the company was acquired by Amazon and came to trade as Create Space (now superseded by Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)). According to Wikipedia, by the end of 2018 over 1.4 million titles from tens of thousands of… Read More Self-Publishing: a Double-edged Sword?
Imagine the scene. The knock at the door. The delivery man. In his hands, an A4-sized box, the kind that contains those four-pack reams of paper you get for your inkjet printer. He smiles and hands you the box. “I’ll go and get the other eight”… Once you have closed the front door, you turn… Read More Not The National Poetry Competition
Part-travelogue, part-art history, part-personal reflection, Hisham Matar’s “A Month in Siena” could easily be seen as something of an antidote if you have been reading too much fiction and are seeking something different just to break things up. Indeed, in a way that is how Matar sees his trip to Italy; an opportunity to fill-in… Read More “A Month in Siena”
There is something about Bellow’s first person narrator / observer which draws you into “Ravelstein”; it seems to me that you are both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ simultaneously. This elongated pen-picture of Ravelstein, laid out by his close friend Chick, is undoubtedly all sorts of things: colourful, expansive, amusing, ironic, submissive… Indeed, the list of adjectives… Read More “Ravelstein”
