Will Self Books

Crudely alluring illustrations aside, Will Self remains one of Britain's most keenly astute observers of modern life, a writer for whom satire is never merely a means to an end. Articulate and frequently downright funny, he dissects societies many foibles like a 21st century version of Jonathan Swift, only a bit nastier. In his latest book of non-fiction, Sore Sites, a collection of 60 pieces from the weekly trade publication Building Design, Self plunders the breadth of architectural monuments and monstrosities to be found around England and the world, leaving no cobble stone unturned. His knowledge of the `built environment' as he calls it, is strangely compelling and gives a subject that might otherwise be sterile and dull, especially culled from a niche magazine such as Building Design, a new dimension that is both hilarious and insightful. Self, as our slightly demented tour guide, traverses the various Millennium buildings in and around London including the Millennium Dome, a project spearheaded by Tony Blair. We wind our way through the crumbling housing districts of Manchester, while Self muses upon the demise of British cities due to the loss of municipal housing. Expansive public pools, the Thames river, the Tower of London, vernacular architecture in Northern Ireland, all get the once over, and, Self even manages to question the integrity of such egregious structures like Seattle's Space Needle, where an over priced lunch can be had while you spin endlessly, taking in the grand views. Particularly Selfesque obsessions manage to rear their loveable ugly heads as well; preoccupations with scale, made all the more apt when put in the context of architecture, the freeways and roadways around England including the M25 and, of course, drugs, which he manages to argue, quite persuasively, are interconnected with, even predicated upon, the aesthetics of architecture. One of Self's literary heroes, J.G. Ballard even sneaks into the collection by way of his novel High Rise, and, well, you can guess the rest. Although not as eclectic, or thoroughly engaging as Self's first collection of journalism, Junk Mail, Sore Sites is a fast, enjoyable read that manages to put architecture in the context of a larger social, cultural landscape. These short pieces allow the reader to ingest the vast history of the `built environment' and understand just how meaningful it is in daily life besides merely being a marvel or an eye sore. So, grab this handy travel sized edition, throw it into the breast pocket of your jacket and take it along with you as you explore the incredible architecture of Rome, or contemplate the desert tray in a spinning restaurant atop Seattle.

Crudely alluring illustrations aside, Will Self remains one of Britain's most keenly astute observers of modern life, a writer for whom satire is never merely a means to an end. Articulate and frequently downright funny, he dissects societies many foibles like a 21st century version of Jonathan Swift, only a bit nastier. In his latest book of non-fiction Sore Sites, a collection of 60 pieces from the weekly trade publication Building Design, Self plunders the breadth of architectural monuments and monstrosities to be found around England and the world, leaving no cobble stone unturned. His knowledge of the `built environment' as he calls it, is strangely compelling and gives a subject that might otherwise be sterile and dull, especially culled from a niche magazine such as Building Design, a new dimension that is both hilarious and insightful. Self, as our slightly demented tour guide, traverses the various Millennium buildings in and around London including the Millennium Dome, a project spearheaded by Tony Blair. We wind our way through the crumbling housing districts of Manchester, while Self muses upon the demise of British cities due to the loss of municipal housing. Expansive public pools, the Thames river, the Tower of London, vernacular architecture in Northern Ireland, all get the once over, and, Self even manages to question the integrity of such egregious structures like Seattle's Space Needle, where an over priced lunch can be had while you spin endlessly, taking in the grand views. Particularly Selfesque obsessions manage to rear their loveable ugly heads as well; preoccupations with scale, made all the more apt when put in the context of architecture, the freeways and roadways around England including the M25 and, of course, drugs, which he manages to argue, quite persuasively, are interconnected with, even predicated upon, the aesthetics of architecture. One of Self's literary heroes, J.G. Ballard even manages to sneak into the collection by way of his novel High Rise, and, well, you can guess the rest. Although not as eclectic, or thoroughly engaging as Self's first collection of journalism, Junk Mail, Sore Sites is a fast, enjoyable read that manages to put architecture in the context of a larger social, cultural landscape. These short pieces allow the reader to ingest the vast history of the `built environment' and understand just how meaningful it is in daily life besides merely being a marvel or an eye sore. So, grab this handy travel sized edition, throw it into the breast pocket of your jacket and take it along with you as you explore the incredible architecture of Rome, or contemplate the desert tray in a spinning restaurant atop Seattle.

As a graduate of Harvard Business and now a consultant in the field of Human Behaviour I recommend this book as one of the best I've read in the field. It is easy to read, practical and full of insights to benefit the reader as well as the practicioner. Two thumbs up! Charles H.

Although The Truth Option has some intriguing notions regarding human motivation, it does not back up its opinion with facts. Some assertions are way out on the fringe including that one's health complaints are manifestations of one's mental state. An example is the idea that if you are blind you do not want to see. All in all I'd pass this one up.

The bookseller had "very good" written as the quality, and it came to be torn, bent, tattered, etc. Not what I would call "very good." Although it was only a few dollars... (guess that's what you get from ordering from a seller called "Thrift Recycling.")

While I found Shaddock's book interesting and well-written what intrigued me more than the book itself was trying to figure out whether David Shaddock is David Shapiro in disguise.... Is this a psychoanalytic slight of hand? An intersubjectivity joke? A post-modern name game? Whatever might be going on here, if you're interested in Kohut' Self-psychology, intersubjectivity theory and how they might be applied in couples therapy this book should do you fine.

Will Self is sui generis, there is no one like him. He has plied his weird, surrealist trade in fiction and journalism for a while now, but I think this book tops his others in the bizarre stakes. Personally, I didn't think it was as good as his three previous short story collections: The Quantity Theory of Insanity, Grey Area and Tough Tough Toys For Tough Tough Boys.

About half the book is taken up with the title story which pits Hindu against Jew, junior against senior psychiatrist who send each other deranged patients under the auspices of requesting a second opinion. Mukti, jealous and angry at the ludicrous, arrogant tele-psychiatrist Busner, becomes convinced that he is being controlled by a cabal of psychiatrists, led by Busner, determined to undermine him. All sinews of sanity are unravelled by the end of the story.

After that there is a mixed bag of short stories. 161 is written in the shadow of Ballard, the grey area of a tower block in Liverpool. A pensioner befriends a youth, threatened by gang men, and despite seeming to be a vulnerable incontinent old man, he keeps his real intentions close to his chest. The story, as revealed in the acknowledgements, was commissioned as part of a Liverpool Housing project. Self actually wrote the piece from a Liverpool tower that was about to be demolished which reveals an interesting desire on behalf of the author to fuse his work with the real world in interesting and original ways.

The Five-Swing Walk, set amongst the scrubby park areas of South London is a bleak, dark meditation on fatherhood. A weekend visiting rights father takes his son to the swings, and becomes disturbed by the nightmarish responsibilities of his role. This is the darkest piece of the lot.

Cheer yourself up somewhat with Conversations with Ord about two lonely middle aged men who conduct a friendship based on visceral hatred and imaginative conceits - mental games of Go-Chess, and pretending to be Ord, a general in his 80s. They discuss the notion of going up in a hot air balloon, stationed over Vauxhall Bridge.

The final piece, Return to the Planet of the Humans, is little more than a coda to Self's earlier novel, Great Apes.

New publicists and small business owners should read this book to learn about the likes and dislikes of journalists before pitching a story so you won't come off as a pest. While it's a good starting point and tells you WHAT to do, it doesn't teach you HOW to do it. For a more in-depth look at publicity, I suggest Marcia Yudkin's collections.

These pieces, generally longer than those anthologized in the second volume of Self's journalism, Feeding Frenzy, are an entertaining bag focusing on the themes that dominated Self's early writing career - drugs, Martin Amis, drugs, contemporary cult culture, drugs, Motorway driving, American Psycho, more drugs. You get the picture. The style isn't as clean and honed as in his more mature non fiction, but the supreme mastery of the English language and all its rough texture is very much in evidence. Worth a read for Will Self non-fiction completists, but necessarily dated.

your instructions were very easy to follow, I will tell others

Frankly, I didn't get much out of this book except that there are some pretty interesting mind map samples reproduced in the book. There is perhaps a key point or two, but I'm sorry to say I'm not enlightened. I've attended a CPD talk on the same topic and I must say, I gained more from there than from this book.

This is a high pressure sales pitch for a guy who is obviously into himself. For someone from a Hutterite-Mennonite like background, he seems to have lost all of the values that he must have learned as a child. At first I thought this was the story of a man who found faith and arose in that faith. This is the story of a guy who was and is totally into himself. Pride of self achievement bursts through every chapter. Sad. A total disappointment. I would not recommend this book.

What I liked Ben Kubassek's book is that it has such interesting stories - the example of the Hugging Judge for instance.

He also has some good ideas on being a parent. His recommendation of two minutes of cheek to cheek time with each of your children is something I now try to remember to do everyday.

The contains the important stuff we continually need reminding about. It is a great read.