Category: comic writing

Nailing It: Tales from the Comedy Frontier, by Rich Hall (Quercus, 2022)

~ Eamonn ~ Leave a comment

A collection of true stories, charting aspects of Rich Hall’s career in comedy. Chronological though episodic, this perhaps widely avoids a straight narrative recounting of early years, breakthrough, and success, preferring to focus on the good bits: the Australian funeral is an especial highlight. Fans will love it, and will want more. That’s probably the right way to approach this kind of thing. Recommended.

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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

My Sand Life, My Pebble Life, by Ian McMillan (Adlard Coles, 2022)

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Subtitled “a memoir of a childhood and the sea,” this is a kinda non-chronological autobiography, capturing moments of poet McMillan’s love affair with the British coastline and of working-class family holidays then and now. Light, whimsical in places, and charming and heartfelt. Cleethorpes features prominently, as it rightly should.

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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

No Encore For The Donkey, by Doug Stanhope (no publisher indicated, 2022)

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Developed from an Audible Original spoken word piece, a diary of sorts of 2016, focusing on Stanhope’s road life and his relationship with partner Amy “Bingo” Bingaman. Planet Stanhope is an interesting place to visit, and this is funny and bleak at the same time, but the journey’s a rough ride nevertheless. Opinions may vary about the extent to which self-loathing sometimes on display here is well-earned and/or entirely justified by behaviour and selfishness.

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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

Paul At Home, by Michel Rabagliati [trans. Helge Dascher & Rob Aspinall] (Drawn & Quarterly, 2020)

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A divorced graphic designer struggles with middle age. Charming, melancholy and well-observed quasi-autobiographical graphic novel, the most recent – to date – in the long-running Paul series. Plenty to appreciate both for newcomers and for those who are growing old alongside the protagonist.

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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

Monologues of Shite, by Emily Cullen (no publisher indicated, 2022)

~ Eamonn ~ Leave a comment

A young woman returns to her parental home for the first 2020 coronavirus lockdown. An excellent quirky little book, mostly documenting/diarising in graphic form her Dad’s rambles, both literal and linguistic. Lots of fun, and well-observed. A handy partner to Rachael Smith’s Quarantine Comix, taking a very different route through the same time. Recommended.

Not sure how widely available this is: I got my copy online from OK Comics.

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My own books here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

Born For Trouble: The Further Adventures of Hap and Leonard, by Joe R Lansdale (Tachyon Publications, 2022)

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Five novellas featuring Lansdale‘s series protagonists: murder and mayhem in East Texas. Bringing together the previously separately-published Coco Butternut, Hoodoo Harry, Sad Onions, The Briar Patch Boogie, and Cold Cotton, this collection finds Hap and Leonard facing middle age but still with plenty of fight in them. Recommended.

A longer review is here.

Note: advance copy provided by the publisher.

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My own books here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

Good Night, Hem, by Jason (Fantagraphics Books, 2021)

~ Eamonn ~ Leave a comment

Three episodes in the life of Ernest Hemingway, each involving recurring Jason character Athos the Last Musketeer. Jason’s laconic, deceptively simple style is, as ever, beguiling. The reader’s given space to think, involving them completely in the narrative, in Hemingway’s life, and the effect of the stranger on him. Recommended.

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My own books here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

The Hungry Years: Confessions of a Food Addict, by William Leith (Bloomsbury, 2006)

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A shambolic writer investigates the diet industry while facing up to his own issues. Funny in places and well-written in confident journalese, this kinda autobiography is as 00s as it gets, dated in some respects (a reliance on James Frey), padded at times, but is good on self-loathing. The secret? Therapy: food and other substance issues are linked to unresolved psychological problems, per this account.

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My own books here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.

Strawberries To Pigs, by Michael Legge (Go Faster Stripe, 2021)

~ Eamonn ~ Leave a comment

A collection of writings from the splenetic stand-up. And a pretty decent selection too. Mostly rejigged bits of bloggery, plus an extended short story (that feels a bit like padding in this context, to be fair). Plenty of fury, as fans might expect, and some strong writing to go along with that. A second volume would be something to look forward to.

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My own books here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.