mark_west ([info]mark_west) wrote,
@ 2008-03-10 12:52:00
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My book of the year (so far)
alisoncover

I finished Alison by Andrew Humphrey last night and it’s a superb book - definitely my read of the year, so far. A quite beautifully bleak tale of doomed friendships and relationships (and secrets that would have been better kept a secret), set around the Norfolk coast (with some places that I’ve visited, which is always a nice surprise), with sparse, almost (at times) hard-boiled dialogue and a clean, frank approach to both violence and sex, “Alison” drags you through to the grim conclusion that you can sort-of see coming but are hoping against. The book is very nicely designed, it’s a real gem all round and I’ll be on the look-out for more work from Mr Humphrey in the future.

Well worth a look.

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[info]pendragonpress
2008-03-10 03:19 pm UTC (link)
I read it in mss form a couple of years ago - and was all set to publish it, but Andy Cox of TTA continued to promise Andrew that it would come out. Really glad it has and TTA has done a better job than I could have - really hope it sells well for both of them.

Andrew really is a writer who should be read by thousands, millions - not a couple of hundred - but then there are so many small press authors in the same boat.

Try and pick up his first short story collection, Open the Box, Mark: mind you, his short fiction could infuriate since he always leaves the tales open-ended with no clear resolution.

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[info]mark_west
2008-03-10 04:12 pm UTC (link)
>>TTA has done a better job than I could have...<<
I agree that Andy Cox did a cracking job, but I think you're putting yourself down there a bit!

As for his shorts, I'll look out for his collection. I've read a few, here and there and I know what you mean and I think I mentioned something similar to you after I read his story in "Choices".

I hope it does really well for them both too.

You know, reading this (and thinking of Pendragon's output and WFTG and some of the excellent stuff the Brits are coming out with at the moment), makes me think - you read a lot on the Net about the poor quality of certain aspects of the small/indie press, but that ignores so much good stuff, so much stuff that is better quality (in my opinion) than material the mainstream is publishing, it's quite sad really. But that's another rant for another time!

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[info]pendragonpress
2008-03-10 05:53 pm UTC (link)
Tell me about it... I work in a rather large supermarket where little seems to go a long way (according to Bob Hoskins) and if I see another "misery-lit" title in the bestseller chart I think I'll go postal.

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[info]mark_west
2008-03-11 09:02 am UTC (link)
Misery-lit - I haven't heard it called that before. I've seen the sections around, recently, called either True Life Stories or Tearjerkers (that was Asda) but my problem with them remains - seriously, who reads them? You look at the titles and then the taglines (she was always Daddy's girl) and whilst my stomach turns at the thought of it, someone else reads that copy, thinks "that'll be good", goes to buy it and then reads it cover to cover (probably in bed). You know, if anyone ever calls me sick again for reading horror...

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