Reading - March 2024

An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain by John O'Farrell (2009)

A concise and surprisingly effective primer to the last 60 (ish) years. As befits the author of Things Can Only Get Better, this is broadly more sympathetic to the centre-left, politically, but doesn't spare the Labour governments either. In between the jokes, there's a lot of actual history being conveyed. Very entertaining, if - as per the title - a little exasperating when you look back at the opportunities missed. But, as I mentioned in my review of Stewart Maconie's superb The Nanny State Made Me, the people get what the people vote for.

Totally Wired: The Rise and Fall of the Music Press by Paul Gorman (2023)

In which an interesting subject is made tedious and dull. I think Gorman's attempts to be comprehensive have completely hamstrung any sense of a real story - indeed, the "fall" is covered in a mere handful of pages - and instead we get an unfocussed ramble through myriad minor titles and names. I managed to finish it with a last final push over a few hours but blimey it was hard work. One for the charity shop.

Stompbox created by Eilon Paz; edited by Dan Epstein and James Rotundi (2021)

I love playing with effect pedals and find the subject really interesting. But the ostensible raison d'être of Stompbox - 100 of the "greatest guitarists" discuss their favourite pedal, accompanied by a photo of said item - occupies less than half of this book. The rest is a collection of articles that are mildly interesting but don't add anything new to the subject. I feel that anyone sufficiently interested in pedals to want to read the first half of the book will already know all the information in the latter half. A much slimmer volume that just had the players and their pedals would have been much better, although presumably couldn't warrant the same price. It also has to be said that although there are some genuine greats amongst the players included, there are some choices clearly only here to make up the numbers. So was it worth it? Well ... not really. It's an interesting diversion but ultimately this book is not worth the expensive, luxurious and ostentatiously heavy coffee table treatment.

Love Again (originally Text for You) by Sofie Cramer (2009)

I read this after watching the film and while it's the same basic plot - man gets texts on his new phone number from a woman writing to her dead boyfriend - the overall feel is very different. While the film is a slightly tongue-in-cheek romcom about finding new love, the book is a more serious examination of the grieving process - a romance still, but one with a bit more depth. Despite that, I found it a little unengaging. Perhaps it's because it's been translated from the original German (SMS für Dich), perhaps because it feels like there are missing scenes; one recurring feature of the narrative is to describe how a main character feels about something that happened earlier, "off camera", as it were, rather than actually including the scene itself. The big emotional break up then reconciliation is curiously muted too. And there's no Céline Dion!

Fingers Crossed by Miki Berenyi (2022)

I always look for good reviews on a book cover as I've learned that if no-one has anything nice to say about it, there's probably a reason. However, Fingers Crossed comes with so many laudatory quotes from both heavyweight publications and reliable insiders, both on the cover (front and back) as well as inside, that it's a bit intimidating. What if I don't like it? Thankfully, this is not a problem here. Miki Berenyi writes fluently, with admirable clarity, and dispassionately lays out the facts of her life leading up to and during her time with her band, Lush. It's not an ordinary story by any means. The stories from her childhood are saddening but provide a necessary context for her life later, while her insights into the sexism and exploitation at the heart of the music industry at the time (and almost certainly still) are not revelations but no less disheartening for all that. And yet throughout she comes across as well-balanced - helped, dare I say, by a quarter of a century's perspective and the grounding of a subsequent normal life and family. It's a really good read and I don't think you'd have to be a fan of Lush to enjoy it. I'm happy to know she's OK. And finally, a very, very slight personal connection: me and my friend Pat once had a beer in the World's End in Camden with Chris Acland, Lush's drummer. He was lovely and bought us chips, which, given that he was probably more broke than we were, was a nice thing to do.

Notting Hill by Richard Curtis (1999)

I've kept this for 25 years primarily because Hugh Grant's afterword is so funny, and because some of the deleted scenes are interesting. I read it this time to complement the film.

The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest (2023)

Enjoyable contemporary romance, readable and believable.