William McIlvanney is a class act

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

I had the honour recently of hosting an event with the legendary William McIlvanney for his new publisher Canongate. Here’s an edited film of the evening. If you don’t know the great man or his work, check it out – you won’t be disappointed.

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

I have been slack…

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

I have been slack about posting up the book reviews I’ve written in newspapers and magazines here, so here’s a wee round up of ones I’ve missed of late. I’ve written a lot more Big Issue reviews, but they’re slow at appearing online, so I’ve just linked to what’s there for now.

First up is The Serpent’s Promise by Steve Jones, which I reviewed for the Independent on Sunday. This was ‘the bible retold as science’, which I thought was a pretty stupid idea and made for an annoying book. Sorry.

Next is Frans de Waal’s The Bonobo and the Atheist, again in Indy on Sun, which was a fascinating look at the evolutionary roots of morality. I cockily began the review ‘As an atheist…’, as if anyone gives a fuck. Good book, though.

Fobbit by David Abrams next – an Iraq war satire, but one I didn’t really think worked – too broad, too kindly, not cutting enough. But what the hell do I know?

I really wanted to love Frank Bill’s Donnybrook, as I thought his debut story collection was amazing. I’m afraid I didn’t think the novel worked so well, as I felt it went over the top into cartoonishness. Ach.

Over at The Big Issue, I loved Emma Brockes’ She Left Me the Gun and Pippa Goldschmidt’s The Falling Sky – one a great memoir with the feel of a thriller, the other a thoughtful novel about love, loss and astronomy.

And finally, at The Herald, I really enjoyed Neil Shubin’s The Universe Within, a good piece of pop-science writing rounding up, you know, how we’re all made of stardust and that, man.

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rise Up, People of Falkirk!

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

…and go to your local library on Hope Street, tomorrow, that’s Saturday 20th April, at 7pm! Myself and DENISE MINA are reading and chatting and in my case playing a song or two, and there’s refreshments and a book swap stall and a quiz and all sorts of other shenanigans, in a pre-World Book Night kind of way.

Sounds great, basically. Details are here. Look forward to seeing y’all there!

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Loads more reviews for GONE AGAIN

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

With one thing and another, I haven’t posted all these reviews of late. So here’s a very quick round-up. In summary, folk are still loving it!

Here’s John O’Connell in The Guardian declaring that the book has ‘elegant clarity’, of all things.

Here’s Rebecca Armstrong in the Independent on Sunday saying that I’m the anti-Lee Child – I hope she doesn’t just mean in terms of sales, eh?

Over at Loitering With Intent, Eva Dolan has a cheeky wee rave about the book, and comes to the conclusion that this book’s change of pace from previous outings is ‘hugely successful’. Thanks, missus!

At Manic Pop Thrills, I’m described as ‘the literary equivalent to Big Black’, which I fucking LOVE, by the way.

At Northwords, Paul Cockburn comes up with the lovely idea of a literary event horizon, inescapable for readers. I like that a lot, Paul.

Geekzine sees Roanna Branigan declaring the book an ‘out-of-control thriller’ – like a motherfucking runaway train, Roanna!

Over at Subtle Melodrama, Bethany decides that the book has ‘big themes, big heart’. Awww, I’m all about the heart, Bethany, cheers!

At Prosecco Bubble, Dawn Goodwin says Gone Again is just the kind of book she loves, and she highly recommends it – thanks Dawn, have a glass of bubbly on me!

And lastly, not a review as such, but the Independent included the book in its 50 Best Spring Reads. Good for them.

There were also, apparently, reviews in The Sunday Times and The Daily Mail, but I can’t find em online. Probably slagged it anyway, eh?

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Culture I consumed in March, a bit late

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

15814401
Ach, bit late with this, sorry. Been a busy little motherfucker, though, you know, writing books, looking after the kids, going on holiday to a warm country, shit like that.

Soooo, anyway, below is a list of what I consumed in March. Didn’t read a single screenplay, which is shocking, but there you go. Was on deadlines, lots to review, holiday to plan and go on. Still no excuse.

Some of the books I read that weren’t for review were picked up from our hotel bookshelf and were fucking dreadful. I won’t say which.

The best things I read were Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway, which is out in July, and Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being. Both brilliant in very different ways.

For some unknown reason, all the movies I watched this month are ones I’d seen before.

Oh, I’ve also been watching Broadchurch on ITV which is fantastic. Best British crime drama I’ve seen in ages.

Crack on!

Books read for review
Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being
Paul Murdin, Are We Being Watched?
Aleksandar Hemon, The Book of My Lives
Frank Bill, Donnybrook
Emma Brockes, She Left Me the Gun
Pippa Goldschmidt, The Falling Sky

Books read not for review
Sara Gran, Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway
Laura Lippman, And When She was Good
Harlan Coben, The Final Detail
Stephen King, Gerald’s Game
Peter James, Perfect People
Michael Connolly, The Reversal

Films watched
The Happening
The Virgin Suicides
Thelma and Louise
Fight Club
Apocalypto
Sunshine

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The next book is GO!

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

1132_2007101925

I’m delighted to announce that my next novel, THE DEAD BEAT, is to be published by Faber & Faber in the summer of 2014. I won’t give much away here, but it’s about a trainee obituary writer who gets involved in a lot of nastiness. The picture above is a clue. There’s a lot of death and grunge, not necessarily in that order.

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘You’ve got to hate your heroes’ – some Iain Banks thoughts

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Doug Johnstone
like a bomb in your brain

like a bomb in your brain

I’m not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes when I read Iain Banks’ message today, about being in the late stages of cancer. Iain has been an inspiration to me for over two decades, since I first had my mind fucking blown apart reading The Wasp Factory as a teenager. I don’t have anything more to say, really, except that he is one of the main reasons I’m a writer today. He made it seem possible.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet him quite a few times, and interview him as a journalist. I remember once we met over coffee for an article I was writing, it was just after he’d ripped up his passport and mailed it to Tony Blair in protest against the Iraq War. He was full of righteous indignation, but also hilarious.

Anyway, we talked about literary heroes for a while and he said something that stuck with me. I’m paraphrasing, but he said something along the lines that it’s not enough to have literary heroes, you have to hate them as well a little bit, you have to write as well as you can to show them that you’re better than them. I knew what he was getting at, I think, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he’s one of my literary heroes, and that I didn’t hate him at all.

I wish him all the best for the time he has left. Think I’ll go and read The Crow Road now. Or Complicity or Consider Phlebas or Feersum Endjinn or The Bridge or Excession or…

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged | Leave a comment

GONE AGAIN is Kindle Daily Deal! 99p today only! Spread the word!

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

Gone_Again_Royal_HB_Unsewn

Folks, just discovered that my latest novel Gone Again is the Kindle Daily Deal today – which means it’s 99p for today only. Click away, folks.

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Y’all should read Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

9780857867964_1

Here‘s my review of A Tale for the Time Being (Canongate) by Ruth Ozeki, which ran in the Independent on Sunday. This is probably my favourite book of the year so far, and I wish I could’ve written more in the review – it’s a clever and very moving look at how we’re all influences on each other’s lives. Check out the review for a more focussed and hopefully considered opinion. Enjoy!

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Shitloads more amazing reviews and coverage for GONE AGAIN

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

Gone_Again_Royal_HB_Unsewn

Well, there’s been a shitload of reviews for the new book over the last week or so, almost all incredibly positive. Let’s crack on:

Some newspaper called The Times had a wee rave about it, Marcel Berlins describing it as ‘quietly excellent’. Ooh, I like that. I’m gonna walk around being quietly excellent all day, I think.

Over at Eurocrime, Amanda Gillies’s head basically explodes with excitement like that bit in Videodrome, saying it’s better than her favourite book of last year, which happened to be my last book. ‘Pure dead brilliant!’ she exclaims. I love her.

At the Scotland on Sunday, Alice Wyllie gives it a very considered, positive write up, saying: ‘The book’s strength lies in its portrayal of the minutiae of life while grief unfolds around it.’

And here’s a big feature interview in The Herald where, thanks to Teddy Jamieson, you find out how I eat soup and what my career low was, amongst other things.

Over at Crimesquad the mysterious M.M. loves Gone Again, and gives this advice: ‘Students of creative writing should read and take note: this is how you use foreshadowing.’ Oh, I live for a tasty bit of foreshadowing.

Yikes. You gotta love a review that begins: ‘Wow! That was amazing!’ Welcome, one and all to the wondrous world of Roberta Bocchese at The Book is on the Table.

Here’s a thoroughly lovely and kind review in The Daily Record by the delectable Shari Low, who calls it ‘harrowing yet touching, intimate yet explosive’. Thanks, Shari!

You love books, right? So do the good people at We Love This Book. Over there, Ann Landmann has a wee rave about Gone Again, saying that ‘Doug Johnstone’s stripped-back style achieves in a few words what others achieve in paragraphs’. Cheers, Ann!

And congrats to Shotsmag – not afraid to go against the tide of opinion, they’ve given Gone Again it’s first snippy review, Gwen Moffat churning out a couple of dismissive paragraphs while presumably sucking a lemon. Well done!

And lastly, not a review as such, but over at Lovereading, Gone Again is apparently Ebook of the Month. Good times!

Posted in doug johnstone | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments