Non-fiction

Robert Aldrich - Gay Life Stories

Fascinating insight into the lives of gay men and women throughout history

28 Feb 2012

(Thames & Hudson) Gay rights have made huge strides in the West in the past couple of decades and with that has come an increase in the numbers of openly gay celebrities from across the spectrum of public life. But what of the many unsung heroes of…

Mark Fisher on The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide

Theatre critic's book of essential advice to aspiring Fringe performers

1 Feb 2012

1 Choosing a title takes ages It’s as straightforward as they come, yet The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide was a title born of months of discussion. The subtitle, How to Make Your Show a Success, was arrived at no quicker. My editor couldn’t believe…

February round-up: best books on Dickens

Simon Callow, Constance Moore, Jenny Hartley and Ruth Richardson celebrate the novelist's legacy

27 Jan 2012

In February, the rest of the UK will be joining all of dear old London town by taking to our foggy streets in honour of Charles John Huffam Dickens’ bicentenary. Well, perhaps not, but the media has certainly done its best to remind us that 2012 isn’t…

The top books for a healthy start to 2012

Dieting and exercise books from Tracy Griffen, Mike Dow, John Briffa and more

5 Jan 2012

It’s that time of year when the season’s jollities come back to haunt you. Stepping on the scales or glancing in the mirror can be a pretty scary prospect. Fortunately, you’re never short of advice in written form come January. Edinburgh-based personal…

Marcus Berkmann - A Shed of One’s Own

Occasionally hilarious, occasionally turgid treatise on middle-age

5 Jan 2012

(Little, Brown) What is middle-age? Is it a fixed number or a fluid miasma of values, outlooks and opinions? Marcus Berkmann, probably correctly, believes it could strike at any time (you could even get a middle-aged teenager) but is perhaps more…

Film books round-up

The Man in the Seventh Row, Cinema: The Whole Story, Hitchcock’s Magic and more reviewed

16 Nov 2011

Brian Pendreigh must surely be the hardest working movie-mad journalist and writer in Scotland. The Man in the Seventh Row (Blasted Heath ●●●) is his seventh book following biographies of Ewan McGregor and Mel Gibson, as well as Scottish cinema and…

Umberto Eco - On Ugliness

Entertaining collection of art history essays edited by the Italian author

15 Nov 2011

(MacLehose Press) Just as notions of beauty are very much in the eye of the beholder, what constitutes ‘ugly’ can be viewed differently across centuries and continents. Football teams who ‘play ugly’ might still end up as winners, while being told by…

Christmas comedy memoirs roundup

Lee Evans, Johnny Vegas, Jason Manford and Simon Day all have books on the way

17 Oct 2011

With the Christmas market positively saturated these days with stand-up comedy DVDs, publishers have clearly decided it’s time to cash in by launching a batch of memoirs from folk who may (or may not) have made you laugh down the years. Titlewise, Lee…

Margaret Atwood - In Other Worlds

Slightly patchy collection of critical sci-fi essays

17 Oct 2011

(Virago) A companion to Margaret Atwood’s published science fiction rather than an essential purchase in its own right, In Other Worlds charts the Canadian Booker Prize winner’s relationship with SF from an early age, bringing a welcome clarity and…

Christopher Hitchens - Arguably

Stellar collection of essays from the outspoken journalist

16 Sep 2011

(Atlantic) As Christopher Hitchens movingly concedes in the intro to Arguably, he writes each new slice of social, political and cultural commentary as though it may be his last. While others would have disappeared within their shell at having…

Janice Galloway

The All Made Up author takes on our Q&A

24 Aug 2011

Give us five words to describe All Made Up? True. Funny. Sad. Teen-to-adult. Novel. Which author should be more famous than they are now? VS Naipaul. Because he’s irritating, self-regarding and self-involved enough that massive fame would be in…

Kristin Hersh set for Edinburgh Festival show

Indie rock goddess brings new memoir, spoken word and live music

10 Aug 2011

Alternative rock idol Kristin Hersh is spoiling us. She’s playing four shows in the Edinburgh festival, although she doesn’t realise it. ‘Am I? I don’t know!’ she laughs. ‘I’ll do whatever you say...’ The List is tempted to exploit this congenial…

Joe Simon: My Life in Comics

Interesting autobiography from one of the pioneers of superhero comics

21 Jul 2011

(Titan) This autobiography written by one of the founding fathers of the American comic books hits the bookshelves a fortnight ahead of the release of the latest Hollywood blockbuster adaptation of a superhero strip, Captain America, which…

Books on cinema - round-up

How the Movie Brats Took Over Edinburgh, Tough Without A Gun, The Faber Book of French Cinema

23 May 2011

As is always the way in Scotland, summer is kind of here, and now is the time to lie in the grass with that growing pile of tosh novels. But let’s face it, you are going to win a lot more kudos from your film-obsessed mates if you create a tower of…

New music books: Luke Haines - Post Everything, Andy Kershaw - No Off Switch,

Simon Reynold - Retromania, Scott Weiland - Not Dead & Not for Sale

23 May 2011

Semi-absent fans of former Auteur and Black Box Recorder man Luke Haines might have received something of a jolt on suddenly Googling him. The words on the second entry would have immediately caught the eye: ‘It is with deep regret that we have to…

Interview - Alice Ozma

Author of The Reading Promise: 3218 Nights of Reading with My Father

23 May 2011

Give us five words to describe The Reading Promise? Books and love. Not sappy! Which book makes you cry? The Old Curiosity Shop is beat-you-over-the-head sad. I found American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld to be moving in a poignant, calm way. We fall…

Jon Ronson - The Psychopath Test

An examination of craziness by the hapless humourist

17 May 2011

(Picador) About halfway through his new book, Jon Ronson has a revelation. Having spent time with the likes of ‘Tony’ (a violent offender who faked a bit of madness in order to get a lighter jail term but ended up being slung in Broadmoor among the…

Celebrity memoirs: Rob Lowe, Barbara Sinatra, Stacey Solomon, Judy Golding and Bear Grylls to publish books

13 Apr 2011

While Charlie Sheen implodes in front of the world’s eyes, he could take comfort in the salutary tale of his old Brat Pack boozing buddy Rob Lowe. In 1988, grainy video footage of him having a wild time with two women became the first commercially…

Mark Radcliffe to tour new book, Reelin’ in the Years: The Soundtrack of a Northern Life

13 Apr 2011

When David Bowie implores the public to indulge in thieving, you know it must be for a very good reason. His call to serious felony was raised on the publication of Mark Radcliffe’s Thank You for the Days: A Boy’s Own Adventure in Radio and Beyond, in…

33 Revolutions Per Minute, by Dorian Lynskey (Faber)

Comprehensive history of protest music

9 Mar 2011

While acknowledging that the protest song has its roots way before the 20th century, music journo Dorian Lynskey kicks off his impressive and extensive history book in 1939 because ‘that is where things get interesting’. This was the year of Grapes of…

Gareth Peirce to appear at Aye Write! book fest

The civil rights lawyer and author will discuss new book, Dispatches from the Dark Side

7 Mar 2011

When it comes to lawyers who have fought tooth and nail for the underdog, they don’t come much more tenacious than Gareth Peirce. Immortalised on film through Emma Thompson’s performance in Jim Sheridan’s In the Name of the Father, which portrayed her…

Q&A: Alison Gangel - author of The Sun Hasn’t Fallen from the Sky

Memoir of hard knock life of growing up in care in 1970s Glasgow

4 Mar 2011

Can you give us five words to describe The Sun Hasn’t Fallen from the Sky? Funny, restrained, powerful, optimistic, unsentimental. Or ‘gleaming gem of a memoir’. Which author should be more famous than they are now? Bernard MacLaverty. Beautiful…

Peter Mandelson appearing at Book Fest

The Dark Lord Cometh

20 Aug 2010

Love him or loath him, it’s sure to be a fascinating night at the Edinburgh International Book Festival when the Prince of Darkness heads to the capital. Following the recent furore surrounding the penning of his swiftly scribed memoirs, Peter Mandelson…

Vidal Sassoon

The style icon talks to Claire Sawers about his life and book

17 Aug 2010

At the height of his celebrity, in the peak of his playboy yachts-and-champagne years, Vidal Sassoon was aboard a boat in Capri, where he was spending the summer. Bobbing in the bay, surrounded by friends, Sassoon looked over at an English boy who was a…

Nick Kent: The rock journo who became the story

Apathy for the Devil will have plenty to talk about at the Book Festival

17 Aug 2010

‘When you get right down to it, the memory is a deceitful organ to have to rely on,’ reflects notorious rock scribe Nick Kent in the opening lines of his memoir, Apathy for the Devil. But even Kent’s near-fatal rock’n’roll lifestyle couldn’t wholly…