Books, Claire Sawers

Michel Faber

Baptism of fire

30 Oct 2008

Michel Faber is a tough act to follow, especially when you're Michel Faber. The chameleonic author has built an impressive back catalogue that flips between postmodern memoirs of a Victorian prostitute, ghostly love stories or a sci-fi thriller about a…

Mark Doty - Theories and Apparitions

2 Oct 2008

POETRY COLLECTION Mark Doty’s talent has always been in bringing elegance to simple, normally very recognisable, snapshots from everyday life. The American poet starts out with a plain observation – some rude truck driver tearing up the NYC streets…

Tibor Fischer - Good to be God

4 Sep 2008

Tyndale Corbett is worried that 'do-gooding, over-forgiving softies' have given religion a bad name. After stealing a friend's identity and fleeing to Miami to escape his dead-end existence, he wants to con a congregation into believing he's God.

Martin Bell

Seeking truth and an end to sleaze

14 Aug 2008

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…

Susan Greenfield

Being proactive about identity

14 Aug 2008

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.

Alan Johnston

Life-enhancing event from ex-hostage

7 Aug 2008

When Alan Johnston was kidnapped at gunpoint in Gaza and held in solitary confinement for 114 days, he used an imaginary wooden life raft and a mind-game called the River of Time to keep himself sane. As the last western journalist who had stayed to…

Health Warning

7 Aug 2008

Simon Singh has upset many people with his damning views on holistic treatment. Claire Sawers asks if he has his finger on the pulse of alternative therapy Don’t get Simon Singh started on reiki massage. And as for ear candles or oxygen therapy, that’s…

You've been mangoed - Mohammed Hanif

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

The mysterious death of Pakistan’s dictator General Zia is still the subject of fevered speculation today. Mohammed Hanif tells Claire Sawers about a debut novel he’s based on memories, rumours and jokes Mohammed Hanif has always been a daydreamer.

Jim Cartwright - Supermarket Supermodel

3 Jul 2008

‘I’ve got something to tell you,’ confides Jim Cartwright, in a rascally, Lancashire drawl. ‘I used to be called Maureen.’ But, as it turns out, that wasn’t where he drew the inspiration for his novel, Supermarket Supermodel. A chat with the Northern…

Alexander Terekhov - The Rat Killer

5 Jun 2008

ALLEGORICAL DRAMA (Alma Books) Alexander Terekhov wrote this political allegory when he was 27. Bad timing meant it failed to make waves outside Russia, as critics were busy unearthing older, established writers suppressed under the communist regime.

Susan Greenfield - ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century

22 May 2008

SOCIAL ANALYSIS (Sceptre) Susan Greenfield, the Oxford-based professor, neuroscientist and broadcaster, is worried that modern living is pushing us towards a more dumbed-down society, where addictive, hedonistic, self-centred behaviour is winning out…

John Burnside - Glister

8 May 2008

SOCIAL DRAMA (Jonathan Cape) It’s safe to say this latest novel from Fifer John Burnside won’t be sparking a tourism boom on the east coast anytime soon. But his bleakly beautiful tale digs beneath the surface of the everyday to do what he does best…

Patience Agbabi - Bloodshot Monochrome

10 Apr 2008

POETRY ANTHOLOGY (Canongate) There’s definitely something about the label ‘radical feminist bisexual performance poet’ that conjures up images of a woman with multiple axes to grind. Luckily, Patience Agbabi, a former Eton writer-in-residence and…

Martin Kihn

27 Mar 2008

A year ago, Martin Kihn was a textbook ‘nice guy’. He was polite, thoughtful and hard working, but his life was going nowhere. He lived in a poky apartment, had a dead-end job and everyone, including his dog, treated him like a bitch. When he hit 40, he…

Meaghan Delahunt interview

13 Mar 2008

When Meaghan Delahunt needs a cliché-free way of describing spice markets in India or rain in Scotland, she turns to Zen Buddhism. ‘There’s this idea of looking at the world with beginner’s eyes. It gives you heightened awareness of everything, so you…

Shed Simove - Ideas Man

14 Feb 2008

BUSINESS ADVENTURES (Bantam) Thanks to his career in TV production for shows like The Big Breakfast and Big Brother, fun-loving nerd Shed Simove has developed a real knack for churning out daft ideas. But on the side, he has slavishly dedicated years…

Steve Martin - Born Standing Up

29 Nov 2007

MEMOIR Born Standing Up (Simon & Schuster) Great comedy and psychological problems normally go together like Bill Hicks and nicotine. Nice guy Steve Martin’s ‘funny but weird’ schtick means he’s pulled off the near impossible by delivering…

Mitzi Szereto (Ed)

18 Oct 2007

SHORT STORIES Getting Even: Revenge Stories (Serpent’s Tail) Sounding worryingly like a manual for angry Bobbitt types, this anthology of short stories looks at ways of serving up the cold dish of revenge. Men don’t come out looking too rosy, and…

Alasdair Gray Interview

20 Sep 2007

Claire Sawers meets Alasdair Gray at his Glasgow home and finds that he has created yet another iconic, naïve and semi-tragic anti-hero.