Junior portion but looking natty.
Category: Blog
To the max
Nice little crispy one.
Irvine Welsh – The Blade Artist
Easy to read, silly, bit dark toward the end. A nostalgic read having first been introduced to these characters 20 years or so ago. Not crazy about it but enjoyed it none the less, save for some of the ‘artistry’ towards the end.
The Penguin Podcast with Richard E Grant promoting this was ok.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/in-conversation/podcasts/penguin-podcast/2016/irvine-welsh/
Serious
Looking sharp, though could have been crispier.
This, however, was killer.
2017 Starts with a Pizza
100% a great start to the year. Here’s hoping for a mega year of music and pizzas.
L.A. Confidential – James Ellroy
Ripping. Two cops, one privileged, educated, the other brawn and limited brain. Really enjoyable but you have to get on board with Ellroy’s style, his voice. A review of another of Elroy’s books, Perfidia, picks out that Ellroy cranks everything up and leaves it there. This is cool but can be fatiguing. Check out this interview with him to get a flavour of this style.
http://thequietus.com/articles/16855-james-ellroy-intervoew-perfidia-crime-la-quartet
Recommended and I’m now off to start Perfidia and re-watch the LA Confidential movie to see how they sliced up the book to make a comprehensible (and classifiable) movie.
Pizza era 2016 starts here.
The first pizza in a new kitchen. Simple but effective (hopefully).
I am Zlatan – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
A struggle. Written in a particular style which is pretty jarring and takes some getting use to. A rags to riches tale but one that becomes a lot less interesting once the success comes. Five out of ten.
Pro-cyling on 10$ a Day – Phil Gaimon
Phil the thrill http://philthethrill.net/ ‘s book charting his early life and primarily his early career. Yes he was a fat kid, yes he took up cycling and was less fat. Enjoyable but I can see how it would be less so if you weren’t a cycling fan / interested in knowing a bit more about the lower ranks of the US pro-scene.
Phil’s podcast, Real Talent, http://philthethrill.net/new-podcast-real-talent-with-phil-gaimon/ is, for me, more interesting than his book, being a number of conversations with other athletes discussing their careers, how they got to where they are, where they are going etc. Really interesting.
What goes around, a London Cycle Courier’s Story – Emily Chappell
The autobiography of a cycle courier and her private life in East London. Found this pretty hard to get into. Again should very much fall into the easy read category but found it difficult to engage with it. A five / six out of ten from me.
ES Waves 