Jonathan Kiefer talks to Christopher Miller about his debut novel Simon Silber: Works For Solo Piano Although the narrator of Christopher Miller’s debut novel is not to be trusted, the author himself seems very reliable. In person he is gentle and friendly, and wouldn’t think of putting you on, perhaps because Miller isn’t yet accustomed […]
Michael Gira : The Consumer And Other Stories : Flawed Beauty
Jordon Leigh Bortle talks to Michael Gira, SWANS frontman and author of The Consumer And Other Stories Michael R. Gira is most widely known as the driving force behind Swans, undoubtedly one of the most extreme bands to have ever graced the planet. Gira called time on Swans in 1997 after 15 years of sonic […]
Stefan Fatsis : Word Freak : Letter Better
Jonathan Kiefer discusses the torrid world of competitive Scrabble playing with Word Freak author Stefan Fatsis Sure, Stefan Fatsis is nice, but he’s also a freak. That is, a passionate aficionado – and an unusual specimen. Fatsis is a Scrabble expert. He has written a book about the game, and can speak authoritatively on its […]
Will Self : Feeding Frenzy : Biting The Hand That Feeds
Chris Hall serves up a slice of Will Self with the publication of his second collection of journalism, Feeding Frenzy Chris Hall: First off, congratulations on the birth of your new son, Luther. Will Self: Yeah, little baby Luther. He was born on August 8, so he’s a couple of months old now. CH: So […]
Simon Garfield : Mauve: How One Man Invented A Colour That Changed The World : Colour Theory
Jonathan Kiefer talks to Simon Garfield about the secret history of chemistry revealed in his book Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour that Changed the World For the subject of his most recent and most popular book, Simon Garfield chose a man whose funeral was fastidiously reported in the periodical “Gas World,” and whose […]
J.G. Ballard : Rushing To Paradise : Not A Literary Man
Marcus Moure’s 1995 interview with J.G. Ballard about his novel Rushing To Paradise Ballard is one of the best writers of speculative fiction alive today. Whether exploring the innate sexuality of automobile accidents, the power of dreams as reality, or navigating through the rubble of modern civilization, his often savage, apocalyptic work has influenced artists […]
Nick Hornby : How To Be Good : Gender Trouble
Patrick McGuigan talks with Nick Hornby about the changing roles of men and women in his new novel How To Be Good Men stumble through life bewildered by relationships, terrified of responsibility and unable to articulate their feelings; or so you would think from the characters portrayed in Nick Hornby’s novels. Women are only used […]
The Young Gods : Second Nature : The Sound In Your Eyes
Thierry Brunet calls on Swiss sonic pioneers The Young Gods to elaborate on their new album Second Nature André Breton used to describe Max Ernst paintings as “a collage of originally heterogeneous elements which, put together, form another reality ; enigmatic, gifted with a strength of persuasion rigorously proportional to the violence of the initial […]
Gitta Sereny : The German Trauma
With the publication of her new 75 year study The German Trauma, Eugene Byrne talks to Gitta Sereny Eugene Byrne For someone who’s spent most of her adult life staring into the abyss, Gitta Sereny laughs a heck of a lot. “I love to laugh. I laugh a great deal. I think because of my […]
Ernesto Quinonez : Bodega Dreams : Spanglish Stories
Chris Wiegand meets Ernesto Quiñonez and dives into Spanish Harlem with Bodega Dreams With the short story collection Drown, Junot Diaz proved that modern literary representations of the Latin American experience could be both critically and commercially successful and Ernesto Quiñonez’s assured debut novel Bodega Dreams follows suite. Published in the U.K. by Serpent’s Tail, […]
J.G. Ballard : Super Cannes : Flight And Imagination
Chris Hall talks about the dark side of capitalism and the deceptions of reality with J.G. Ballard Walking along Oxford Street the day after I finished reading JG Ballard’s new novel, Super-Cannes, it struck me, literally, the total acceptance of the substrate of violence in consumer societies when it manifests itself. A silent, monolithic crowd […]
Annabel Chong : Sex: The Annabel Chong Story
Robin Askew meets porn star Annabel Chong to discuss her infamous DVD documentary Sex: The Annabel Chong Story “Oh my god – this couple just turned around and gave me a dirty look!” Annabel Chong giggles like a schoolgirl. “It’s like, no sex please we’re British.” Perhaps unwisely, she’d stepped outside her film company’s noisy […]
Lawrence O’Toole : Pornocopia : Talking Dirty
Chris Mitchell meets Lawrence O’Toole, author of Pornocopia: Porn, Sex, Technology and Desire It’s a well-worn joke that any dinner-party discussion of the Internet will inevitably include a mention of finding pornography while on- line. As Lawrence O’Toole points out in his book, Pornocopia: Porn, Sex, Technology And Desire, the Internet has been the biggest […]
Will Self : How The Dead Live : Dead Man Talking
Chris Hall has a lively conversation with Will Self Although, at 39, Will Self is approaching mid-life and he can see the “lowering storm of age and extinction” ahead of him, there is still certainly nothing in his prose or his physiognomy to suggest that he will become flabby or paunchy. Indeed, even though his […]
Jeff Noon : Pixel Juice : Dub Til It Bleeds
Polly Marshall hears why sci-fi is a four letter word for the Lee Scratch Perry of contemporary letters, Jeff Noon Jeff Noon’s gorgeous girlfriend has her hands on the wheel and a crazy glint in her big blue eyes. Jeff and Julie are my not entirely reliable guides on the Vurt tour, a late night […]
Jeff Noon : Needle In The Groove : Liquid Culture
Antony Johnston discusses cities, prose remixing and the death of Vurt with Jeff Noon I meet Jeff Noon in his now-native Brighton, stepping off the two o’clock from Victoria to greet a man surprisingly recognisable from his dustjacket photographs, casually dressed and affable. You heard me. Jeff Noon, the man who made Manchester live, breathe […]
Sonic Youth: An interview with Thurston Moore
Andrew McCutchen meets Sonic Youth mainman and guitar torturer extraordinaire Thurston Moore “I moved to New York to fuck Patti Smith” writes Thurston Moore, going back, going way back to an epoch of rock history when Sid Vicious was at his most vicious, prowling the Village’s streets after Nancy’s brutal murder, when Lydia Lunch was […]
Arvo Pärt : Miserere : Miserere And Minimalism
Lewis Owens meets composer Arvo Pärt A few months ago, I contacted the composer Arvo Pärt through his publisher in Vienna. I informed Mr Pärt that I was interested in writing a book on his life and music. After reading my proposal, Mr Pärt suggested that we met to discuss things further. The first meeting […]
Julian Murphy : The Singular Art Of Julian Murphy : Hoover Groover
Robin Askew discovers why artist Julian Murphy turns household appliances into fetish objects of desire Bristolian born and bred, 40-year-old Julian Murphy studied Design for Print at Brunel College. His acclaimed fetish art, which he describes as “sciperepics”, transforms everyday household appliances into extraordinary objects of desire. Critics have compared Julian’s work to that of […]
Alan Warner : The Sopranos : Existential Ecstasy
Zoe Strachan talks to Alan Warner about French intellectuals and the chemical generation genre ZS: Your story ‘After the Vision’ was in my opinion the best in the Children of Albion Rovers anthology produced by Rebel Inc. It says it was taken from something called The Far Places. Was this a novel? It seems to […]
Hubert Selby : The Willow Tree : A Lightning Strike On The Retina
Thierry Brunet meets the uncompromising Hubert Selby Hubert Selby Jr is one of the most powerful American writers. Last Exit To Brooklyn, his first novel, was a best seller and the subject of an obscenity trial in England. The book was incendiary with its release in 1964. It’s a compassionate portrait of an overlooked America. […]
William Gibson : All Tomorrow’s Parties : Waiting For The Man
Antony Johnston has a meeting of minds with the elusive William Gibson about his new novel All Tomorrow’s Parties William Gibson needs no introduction. But he’s going to get one anyway. Gibson coined the term ‘cyberspace,’ visualising a worldwide communications net eleven years before the World Wide Web was born. His debut novel Neuromancer won […]
Chester Himes : Lesley Himes: A Life Of Absurdity : Life After Chester
Mark Ostrowski meets Lesley Himes, widow of the late, great Chester Himes Women without men: María survived Borges; Linda Lee, Bukowski; Mary, Hemingway; and Lesley, Himes. Women who dealt with their husbands’ blindness, alcoholism, mental disorders, strokes. Women who now control the reproduction of their late husbands’ work, their copyright. I was ruminating on the […]
Albert Camus: Solitaire Et Solidaire: Catherine Camus interview, daughter of Albert Camus:
Russell Wilkinson parle avec Catherine Camus au sujet de Le Premier Homme d’Albert Camus [Traduction française de Maria Kaninski et Emmanuelle Dumas For the English version of this interview, click here.] En janvier 1960, l’écrivain et philosophe français Albert Camus meurt dans un accident de voiture avec son ami et éditeur Michel Gallimard. Le manuscrit […]
Alex Garland : The Beach : Backpacker Blues
Nancy Rawlinson finds out why The Beach author Alex Garland is still unsure of his writing success No matter where you go on this small planet of ours, you will encounter ‘Garland’s Law.’ That is, for every 10 people under the age of thirty that you meet, approximately 3.33 per cent of them will have […]
