Busy weekend ahead, so I’ll keep intros brief. Hope your longer break contains more than the usual amount of joy and delight.
This week: two songs which define me, an excellent last meal and more than you ever wanted to know about fanfic.
Avanti!
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. This comes with a barrel full of kudos and huzzahs as a reinvention of the detective novel from a highly acclaimed literary writer. I’m struggling to see the attraction, to be honest. The PI, Jackson Brodie, is the same embittered downbeat guy we’ve seen a million times before. The question which serves as narrative fuel—what connects three disparate murders and disappearances spaced over forty years—is a good one, but the pieces take an awfully long time to grind into place. The pacing is all over the shop and action, this far at least and I’m two-thirds of the way through, virtually happens off-stage. Honestly, I’m only reading it to find out how everything resolves.
Rob is watching…
Legends. As a fan of both The Gold and The Night Manager, this newness from Neil Pearson is absolute catnip. It’s got all the elements which make both shows so good—the late 20th century details, the gruff, tough yet kind-hearted guv’nor, the ever-present sense of events sliding rapidly out of control. Rock solid plotting, great characters acted brilliantly, a script full of zingers. Please, though, can we move away from the moment when our lead male proves his bona fides in a difficult moment by pressing his forehead against the gun barrel pointing at him? It’s a bit over-used.
Rob is listening…
To Hüsker Dü. More accurately, to The Miracle Year, a boxset containing the music the band wrote and recorded in one febrile, fertile twelve months. 1985 was a formative year for me musically, as I developed the long-standing obsession I hold to this day with Bruce, REM and the Hüskers. Songs like Makes No Sense At All are part of the bedrock on which I stand.
Rob is eating…
Well, more thinking about eating, to be honest. Specifically, what I would choose for my last meal. Because, based on the thought and care food nerd Alton Brown has put into his, I seriously need to up my game. I guess a good steak and a panna cotta just isn’t going to cut it. What would you put on your final menu, Readership?
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
And just like that a whole new universe opens.
A good look at the life and works of Douglas Adams, a writer who never saw an opportunity he couldn’t undermine. A hero to all procrastinators and those of us who are too easily distracted.
This is fascinating—an exploration of that untamed frontier of the literary world, fanfic, with particular reference to those works not in the English language. Sorry, that sounds a bit dry. Trust me, this all gets very fruity very quickly.
While we’re on the subject, a long Tumblr piece (of course it’s Tumblr) on NFL fanfic. If you’re immediately seeing the parallels with the world of Heated Rivalry—well, you’re on target.
John Lanchester on money laundering. Ostensibly a review of two books on the subject, Lanchester brings his trademark bleached-bone humour and striking eye for detail into a long read which will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about that tenner developing deep creases in your wallet.
Advice for men, centring on the violence inflicted on the male member by the cast of Jackass. More thoughtful than you think, honest.
A great interview with Ray Naylor, author of The Mountain In The Sea and other wild, visionary works focussing on the alien life we just happened to share a planet with. This is one of the works of art which took octopus off the menu for me.
Delighted to see a formative part of internet culture receive the respect and recognition it deserves. A snake, a snake!
A lovely bit of local (to me) history, celebrating Reading’s most iconic bar and music venue. Still going strong, although arguably not the den of iniquity it used to be. Hey, we all slow down as we get older.
Stephen Colbert’s Late Show ends this week, and the team are making sure it goes out on a giddy high. As a treat, here’s a show which features all the moments which were too odd, surreal or angular to make the daily cut. Stephen insisted the whole thing go out uncut on YouTube, presumably against the wishes of CBS, who I hope are regretting what they’re about to lose.
To conclude. A small moment of utter genius.
I hope all who celebrate had an appropriately bleak and dismal World Goth Day yesterday. To mark the occasion, albeit a day late, the proper version of Temple Of Love. No shade on Ofra Haza, but this is the one I grew up with.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 