Books, Issue 610

Chuck Palahniuk - Snuff love

Chuck Palahniuk tells such stark tales that people faint at his readings. Doug Johnstone crosses his legs, girds his loins and chats to the guru of gore

Lisa Appignanesi - Express yourself

Kate Gould finds Lisa Appignanesi on good form as she discusses the history of health and the future of censorship

Gavin Francis

Trekking round the back door of Europe

Edinburgh-based GP-turned-adventurer and travel writer Gavin Francis’ next book – charting an epic motorcycle schlep from Orkney to Sydney – will finish on an ironic endnote. Having survived the mean streets of Beirut and New Delhi on its journey, his…

Andrew Mueller - I Wouldn’t Start From Here

A few weeks after 9/11, Andrew Mueller – rock journalist, travel writer and self-ascribed hack – browsed the list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organisations released by the US State Department and wondered what it might be like to be one of those…

Frank Miller & Jim Lee - All Star Batman and Robin

COMIC (DC/Titan) Frank Miller and Jim Lee tackle the world’s greatest detective and the boy wonder in this sister title to Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly’s All Star Superman. The first nine issues of the ongoing series are collected here, and like…

Rodge Glass

Analysing icons of football and fiction

‘Faith is something that preoccupies me, definitely, but it is usually the lack of it,’ says Rodge Glass, the Glasgow-based Jewish author of No Fireworks and Hope for Newborns who passed through a staggering range of variously religious, private and…

Ross Raisin

Creating a malevolent teenager trapped on the Moors

Ross Raisin burst onto the literary scene flanked by quotes from JM Coetzee and Colm Toibin. Dubbed ‘one of the most eagerly awaited literary debuts of 2008’, God’s Own Country didn’t disappoint. Set on the Yorkshire Moors, it is about Sam Marsdyke, a…

Dave McKean

The comics guy who connects with rock stars and chefs

An illustration masterclass from Dave McKean is a very special thing indeed. As one of the most innovative illustrators in Britain, his association with Neil Gaiman has raised him to a near-deity among comic fans and goths, providing the covers for all…

Susan Greenfield

Being proactive about identity

Short attention span? Inability to turn down chocolate biscuits? Memory of a long-term dope smoker? Susan Greenfield, the Oxford-based neuroscientist, is hoping to shed light on these problems and more, when she appears here to discuss her latest book.

Charles Leadbeater

Internet ideas man seeks to expand boundaries

‘What excites me about book festivals is the sheer diversity of ideas, viewpoints and styles,’ says Charles Leadbeater. ‘There are so many interesting people who are interesting in different ways.’ Leadbeater is all about ideas. He has advised…

Bookslam

Ripping up the stuffy literary world

‘People think live readings are supposed to be 20-minute monotones about the “quality of light on the mountains” and unfortunately they often are,’ says Alan Bissett, master of ceremonies for a stagefull of Dan Rhodes (pictured), Patience Agbabi and…

Martin Bell

Seeking truth and an end to sleaze

Eleven years after New Labour’s landslide victory, Martin Bell has been considering Tony Blair’s legacy. More specifically, the white suit-wearing BBC war correspondent turned independent MP, and now UNICEF ambassador, wants to work out where it all…

Esther Rantzen

Loving life in the third age

It was the death of her husband Desmond Wilcox that shaped the philosophy behind Esther Rantzen OBE’s new book If Not Now, When? A self-help book, after a fashion, it expands on the virtues of enjoying life at every available opportunity, even into…

Books - hitlist

Anne Enright After winning the Man Booker prize for The Gathering last autumn, the Irish author talks about her latest effort, Taking Pictures, a short-story collection about female lives. 15 Aug, 11.30m, £9 (£7). ] Chuck Palahniuk The creator of cult…

5 questions - Tony Black

New Edinburgh crime prince Tony Black has half an eye on Ian Rankin’s throne. Here he becomes king of our less than majestic Q&A

Top 5 - TV People

Susie Dent Don’t even ask her to be drawn on the subject of the ‘Carol Countdown Controversy’. Along with fellow word fan Henry Hitchings, the nine-letter word expert will be talking about the ever-evolving English language. 20 Aug, 2pm, £9 (£7).

Kids Events

When Miranda Richardson so memorably played the child-like Queen Elizabeth I in Blackadder, a career in entertaining kids seemed to be in the offing. With Horrid Henry (16 Aug) she appears to have finally grasped that opportunity by voicing the little…

Richard Holloway - Between the Monster and the Saint

PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS (Canongate) Richard Holloway talks himself and us in and out of moral corners in this reflection upon the nature of good and evil and analyses their tug of war with intellectual ease. Beginning by contemplating the monster and…

Chris Cleave - The Other Hand

SOCIAL DRAMA (Sceptre) After the success of his 2005 debut novel The Incendiary, Chris Cleave turns his attention from terrorist attacks to the equally provocative issue of immigration. Written as a first person narrative, The Other Hand describes the…

Christopher Brookmyre - A Snowball in Hell

CRIME TALE (Little, Brown) Terrorism, reality TV, manufactured pop, hacking, magic and a wee touch of romance: Christopher Brookmyre likes to pack a lot into his literary sandwiches. And, as usual, his fans will happily gorge themselves on it, because…

Daniel Barenboim - Everything is Connected

MUSIC ANALYSIS (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) In 1999, Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said set up the West-Eastern Divan Project, enabling young Middle Eastern musicians to work together. Now, in a collection of essays and articles that is part manifesto, part…

New Burns project set for publication

Oxford University Press is set to produce the largest, most comprehensive collection of Robert Burns' works to date. The project will be undertaken by the new Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow and will be edited by the…

Daniel Kalder

It’s not everyone who packs their bags and heads to Tatarstan, Kalmykia, Mari El and Udmurtia – four of the most remote and least frequented republics of Russia. But that is exactly what anti-tourist and travel writer Daniel Kalder did for his debut…