Paperjam

Saw a brief write up for this while on the train back from Art Brut the other week, a black comedy about a nasty A&R man at the tail end of the Britpop years. What’s not to like about that?

Some routine library enquiries revealed that they didn’t have it so I strolled into Leamington Waterstones the other Friday to make the triumvirate of ladies behind the counter very happy by asking if they had a copy. “It’s got a rude word on the cover”, one giggled. “Is it ‘motherfucker?’” I whispered, they all giggled. The conversation continued, James shook his head in the background and muttered something about the effect that counters seem to have on me.

After such a good start it is disappointing to report that Kill Your Friends is a bit of a let down. There are some good jokes at the expense of various no-mark indie bands (quite a few of which I actually liked) and the absolute disgust that the author holds the music industry in comes through very clearly.

Thing is, it seems like a low-calorie version of Brett Easton Ellis, there is a hateful central anti hero who is out for himself to such an extent that a spot of murder fits in nicely with his career path, everyone is snorting coke all the time, all his co-workers are hateful yuppies and every woman is described as some kind of spunk-gargling street walker. Every chapter starts with a wry state of the industry summary usually involving Ultrasound or Gene.

So effectively American Psycho crossed with the NME. It certainly isn’t terrible and I reckon it would have made a cracking short story, but at over 300 pages it does drag on a bit too long.

One interesting point is the opening quote from the late, great Hunter S Thompson, who in just 32 words efficiently sums up the entire novel that follows and makes you laugh out loud:

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side."

I finished reading this sitting under a tree in the park this morning. Despite the pleasant setting, the book exacerbated my slightly dodgy mood to the point where I had to go and mercilessly hammer someone at tennis without any of my usual inconsistency or comedy moaning.

Not that I think The Great Gatsby is a bad book by any means, I can easily see why it is considered a classic, but it certainly leaves you with a sour taste in the mouth by the end.

This is a book I have meant to get round to reading for years, but I've always put it off, imagining it to a drab period romance or dull, over-literary and hard work. Fortunately a few people have nagged me to read it lately and so my preconceptions have been proved completely wrong.

TGG is a harsh look at human nature, via a bunch of really unsympathetic characters, they all seem fairly detached and selfish. Based around a decadent scene in the 1920's where the eponymous Gatsby is known for the lavish parties he throws in his mansion, it is a great exploration of how money can't really buy you what you want, the way that to some people love is a commodity and how, in the end when tragedy strikes, people will completely let you down.

I strongly recommend that you don't do what I did and have a crack at reading The Great Gatsby in the near future. I got it for a couple of quid from Fopp, although if you are feeling exceptionally tight there is a free version available on line.

As every one knows, comics are for kids - and grown men who are still essentially children. With this in mind I can heartily recommend Ex Machina and The Filth to all the rest of you out there.

Ex Machina is very grown up, mixing politics, art scandals and a bit of 9/11 into what is essentially a flawed superhero story.

Meanwhile The Filth (by Grant Morrison who wrote The Invisibles) is a cavalcade of swearing, pornography, violence and general mysteriousness. Like The Invisibles, this is really great to read but a complete nightmare to describe in any concrete way. A whole lot of personal interpretation makes up the experience, which is usually the way with all good books.

As usual, if you are thinking of delving into the world of comics I would recommend first checking out Alan Moore's genius V for Vendetta and Watchmen, both of which are getting the film makeover as I type.