The Workshy Fop Awards: 2011

My Books Of The Year, 2011

1) Half-Blood Blues – Esi Edugyan

Brilliantly readable, Half-Blood Blues conjures up the spirit of Weimar Berlin, war-torn Paris and the Jazz age whilst delivering an intriguing tale of betrayal, fallibility and forgiveness. The dialogue is effortlessly convincing, and Edugyan manages the difficult feat of writing about music without resorting to clichés or pseudery. Half-Blood Blues was one of the surprise hits of the year (well done For Books’ Sake for picking up on it early on), and its success is entirely justified.

2) A Cruel Bird Came To The Nest And Looked In – Magnus Mills

As usual, Magnus Mills managed to create a surreal, downbeat, comic and profound novel crammed into about two hours worth of reading time. Mills is hard to categorise, and doesn’t fit readily alongside anyone else currently writing in the mainstream. I suppose you could position him somewhere between Samuel Beckett, Mervyn Peake and Alan Bennett. A Cruel Bird…may not quite reach the heights of ‘The Restraint of Beasts’ or ‘Explorers of the New Century’, but is still one of the most enjoyable books of the year, with its deft satires of Empire, Orwell, and Oil Wars.

3) The Stranger’s Child – Alan Hollinghurst

Taking a more expansive view than his previous work, The Stranger’s Child surely cements Hollinghurst’s position as the most technically gifted author currently writing in the mainstream. In this novel, Hollinghurst toned down the sex scenes while still writing a great party, and created an evocative piece of work, reminiscent of Forster or Waugh. The length may put people off re-reading it, but I suspect there is plenty to be drawn out of The Stranger’s Child with time.

4) The Marriage Plot – Jeffrey Eugenides

One of the most purely enjoyable reads of the year, The Marriage Plot focuses on the problems college graduates face when confronted with the real world, and demonstrates that academic virtues can become a hindrance away from campus. The novel may not have all the audacity or technical accomplishment of the Pulitzer-winning Middlesex, but Euginides still writes a great character, and displays an engaging warmth and humour.

5) There But For The – Ali Smith

Another book ignored by the Booker panel, There But For The takes an idea straight out of Pinter and parlays it into a full-length novel of comic absurdity. The concept couldn’t be simpler or more engaging - a dinner party guest locks himself in an upstairs room and refuses to leave. His actions reveal the true nature of his hosts, and of society as a whole, like a middle-class Bartleby; we see subtle cruelties and meaningless chatter, opportunistic money-making and witless acts of solidarity, one act of rejection causing utter chaos. The structure of the novel leads to occasional dips in interest, but overall this is a fine read.

Best of… In Translation

Neither of these books were written this year, but both were translated into English during 2011. Firstly, Michel Houellebecq delivered his most enjoyable and mature novel to date, The Map and The Territory. Similar to Bret Easton Ellis in Lunar Park, but more satisfying, Houellebecq portrays himself as a past-his-peak, dissolute character trapped in his own text. Free from the overt misogyny and racism of previous work, the novel is an enjoyable satire on modern France and the art world. Also in France, Jean Tuele’s novel ‘Eat Him If You Like’ was a disturbing, unpleasant and deeply compelling account of mass hysteria and brutality, drawn from an obscure nineteenth century incident in which a popular young man is falsely accused of treachery and set upon by a mob.

Non-Fiction

Caitlin Moran’s How To Be A Woman has dominated best-seller lists and year end awards. While there are problems with the presentation of this book as a definitive guide for the modern feminist, as a coming-on-age memoir it is a huge success, equally hilarious and moving. You can’t help being glad that Moran exists as a counterbalance to the likes of Louise Mensch. Elsewhere, The Psychopath Test was probably Jon Ronson’s best book to date, with plenty of stories you’ll remember and tell your friends about. Mark Kermode’s The Good The Bad and the Multiplex takes everything you like about his radio shows and turns it into an impassioned rant about the evils of dumb blockbusters, 3D, English-language remakes and the multi-screen cinema. Imagine Eric Idle’s package holiday sketch, but replace ‘Watney’s Red Barrel’ with ‘Bloody anti-piracy ads’, and you’ll have the flavour of it. Alexei Sayle’s childhood memoir ‘Stalin Ate My Homework’ is full of fascinating anecdotes, but sometimes strikes an uncomfortably hostile tone towards his mother, in particular.

Crime

Christopher Fowler has been writing the Bryant & May novels since 2004, and this year’s effort, The Memory of Blood, is his ninth. Following the fortunes of the elderly detective duo Arthur Bryant and John May, founders and leaders of London’s Peculiar Crime Unit, the series deals in the mythology of the capital, with esoteric assistants, scheming villains, an obstructive Home Office and a Victorian sense of Grand Guignol. The Memory of Blood is a typical case, a locked room mystery centred on the figure of Mr Punch. The detectives, as ever, face a race against the clock, armed only with their arcane knowledge and supporting cast of white witches and defrocked academics. Fowler’s books cast light on forgotten byways of London’s history, with a wicked wit and a nod to psychogeography. The series does not necessarily flow chronologically, and this is as good an entry point as any. The audio books are also excellent.

Publisher of the Year:

Eight Cuts is an Oxford-based publisher, dealing largely in experimental work, be it poetry or prose. They have had some success this year with The Dead Beat by Cody Jones being nominated for, and sadly withdrawn from, Not The Booker Prize, and strong reviews for The Zoom Zoom by Penny Goring. It's great to see an independent publisher with such a strong sense of identity, creating fascinating (and well-presented) books. Dan Holloway contributes semi-regular polemics to this blog, on the importance of experimentation and the DIY aesthetic - a great introduction to Eight Cuts.

Website of the Year:

For Books' Sake has made great progress in its first full year, with lively reviews and debate, excellent regular features (Battle of the Bookshops, Book Candy and Five Minute Fridays), as well as raucus events around the country. There's definitely a place for a website focussing on independent women writers (and independent publishers), with the depth of focus this allows. They do nice merch, too.