Terence Blacker

“Though born into privilege and inheriting a fortune, Willie Donaldsom ended up dying alone in a seedy rented flat, his computer still logged on to a lesbian porn site.”

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Very entertaining account of an unusual life. I detested Donaldson as a young man (and the book was all the better for it). I thought he was a smug little shit. Later, when things started to go wrong I warmed to him a bit. I suppose I just like the underdog. Or maybe it’s because his life-cycle exactly matches my show more own.

He’s an interesting mix of contrasts. Amazing ability and stunning incompetence. Funny, and foul to his friends. Teetotal and a crackhead.

It plays out against a backdrop of the small world of the British arts scene from the 50s onwards. Amazing to see how many of the people of that time are still going. Interesting to a Brit, but may be a little meaningless to others.

The book’s properly researched and written in quite an informal style. Blacker often let’s you see his workings. A good choice I think as he and Donaldson were friends. It’s biased, but Blacker’s sometimes questionable opinions are on full show and I never felt he was lying. Occasionally funny too, and a couple of times, where he quotes from Donaldson's own work I was in physical pain from laughing.

I’m going to read the Henry Root letters again now. show less

Gregory Keays was once the promising author of a well-received first novel. Back in his twenties he was listed as one of Granta's 1983 Best of Young British Novelists, an honour he reminds his readers of incessantly, along with the fact that he has written many more novels than just that first one, though that is the only one he has actually finished and published. The following twenty years has seen Gregory slip down the literary scale to teaching writing classes at a local institute and show more doing author interviews for a magazine, with both the publication, its readers and his subjects being beneath him. Along with his dimmed career, Gregory's place at home was usurped years ago by his high-earning wife, and his teenage son has adopted a thug personality that his father dissaproves of.
When young Peter Gibson enrolls in the writing class, his seeming arrogance puts Gregory off, but it turns out that Peter is an exceptional writer, though so introverted that he hardly speaks. Gregory practically forces Peter to attend readings and launches with him, thinking that eventually Peter will be famous and he'll be remembered as the one who discovered the new talent. Through a series of events, Peter is removed from the picture and Gregory is in possession of Peter's brilliant manuscript, which no one else knows exists. With little hope of regaining his reputation through his own skills, Gregory doesn't hesitate.

Gregory is the epitome of the unreliable narrator. He finds an excuse for nearly everything he does- his incessant cheating, ignoring his son, his failed career, which he blames on his fellow Granta writer, Martin Amis. There's a hilarious scene of Gregory attending a reading by Amis, in which he sits in the audience quietly heckling the author.
In another scene, he visits Peter's parents and believes he's being charming when he's clearly creeping them out.
This is one of my reading highpoints of the year so far. show less

As far as quasi-Dickensian fantasies go, this was a strange one. Blacker seems to be going for the more gritty approach in this tale of rat kingdoms versus anti-rat politicians, and he's populated his Victorian city with the requisite quirky and occasionally twisted individuals. The human hero is of course an orphan for all practical purposes (the reason for this is unusual, but I guess it might have been in an attempt to prevent his being a literal orphan). There's also a strange pedophile, show more which is unusual. And rat torturers who bite out eyeballs, also unusual. And a rat-stomping fest, also unusual. Yeah. All pretty unusual and unpleasant. show less

Excellent teen novel about being a jockey in England. Jay (Jasmine) leaves her life with her uncle, who had her riding in dodgy "pony" races so that he could win by gambling on her, to try being a real jockey in Newmarket, England's mecca for horse racing. Taken on as a stable "lad" (even the girl stablehands are called lads, although they are few and far between) in a small stable where the trainer's wife is secretly the brains behind the operation (again, a primarily male-dominated and show more often chauvinistic industry), Jay deals with bullying from the other lads, but stands up to them and gradually forms a bond with the barn's resident "bad" horse, the ornery misunderstood mare named Manhattan. Jay also becomes a reluctant spy for her uncle, who desperately needs insider tips to keep his gambling debts from burying him. Suspense builds as Jay becomes a better rider and is asked to ride Manhattan in races, but to use tactics she knows won't work on this particular horse. And how long can she keep up the spying before getting caught and ruining everything she's worked so hard for? Excellent horse book written by an amateur jockey who knows his way around horses and racing, so there are lots of good details about horse care and riding, and well-written race scenes. I especially liked the lack of a romantic subplot, which is often de rigueur in these kinds of books for girls, but not always what you want in a good horse novel. I read an ARC from the Early Reviewer program but I'd love to own the finished book! show less