Everybody’s disgusted, but nobody’s that surprised about Jimmy Savile. He was always creepy, and the girls he had his arm round as he presented Top Of The Pops rarely looked comfortable. What had he already done to them? Nevertheless, the scale of his evildoing beggars belief. The comedian Jerry Sadowitz nailed him in a routine as far back as 1988. When I wrote a story for the UNICEF comic No Secrets (edited by John Clark) and called it Jim’ll Fix It, there may have been a subconscious dig at Saville, who I didn’t like. But that’s all. I’m not claiming any presience. The four page comic story, illustrated by John McCrea, is about sexual abuse within the family, which is still where abuse is most prevalent. It…
My new novel about university life, Student, which I give the background to below, is published on Monday, September 24th, the start of Fresher’s Week at most unis. As an opening week offer, you can get the book on Kindle for 99p, or from the publisher at £4.99, post-free, for a signed copy. That’s less than anywhere else for a signed copy. Obviously, we’re doing this more for attention than sales, and reviews left anywhere will be much appreciated. I started writing seriously 28 years ago, after training to be a teacher. Almost the first thing I wrote was to become my debut, The Foggiest, in 1990. I saw it as a trial run at the time, and concentrated on adult fiction of the kind…
I’ve just returned from one of those holidays you need a holiday to recover from (long story, but it involved a huge amount of driving, breakdowns, a blow-out and never knowing where you would be the next day), so my holiday reading was less wide ranging than usual. I usually get through a balanced set of books, from crime to literary fiction and poetry, but this time the closest I got to literary fiction was a handful of stories in the New Yorker, of which I had many issues saved up. The best ones were by Jennifer Egan in the pictured issue and Tessa Hadley. I was impressed by Alison Moore’s long story The Pre-War House on my Kindle (I’d taken her Booker long-listed The Lighthouse…
I missed this year’s Bruce Springsteen tour, partly because I’m not very keen on massive stadium gigs, though I did get down the front for Bruce at Glastonbury. Wasn’t too bothered, as I’ve seen him ten times before, but I wish I’d been to the show his band played at Helsinki on the last day of last month. The legend always had it that Bruce played four hour sets, but they usually came in nearer three. At Helsinki, however, he played for four hours and five minutes. AND he played an unannounced 25 minute acoustic set for early arrivals. Recordings, needless to say, circulate. This seems the most appropriate track to feature, from the encores that night, a cover of Southside Johnny & The Asbury…
A slightly extended version of my review for the Nottingham Post. Nottingham has waited 35 years for Scritti Politti. None of the band’s previous incarnations, from do-it-yourself post-punk to neo-soul success, have toured heavily. Singer/songwriter Green Gartside suffers from crippling stage-fright. An approximation of the current line-up produced the excellent White Bread, Black Beer album in 2006. Green’s already played Nottingham once this year, in the Sandy Denny tribute, where he seemed confident and sang wonderfully. Perhaps, at a youthful 57, he’s ready for us. Or perhaps not. ‘Are you alright? Because I’m terrified. Thank you for coming,’ he begins. ‘Good night.’ The band kick off with classic ‘Sweetest Girl’. Five years ago, when I saw the new incarnation at Sheffield’s Leadmill,…