Shiny Linkiness – Despentes and Ayoade

I’ve two recent reviews at Shiny to share with you here too. Both are lockdown books, such is the length of the publishing cycle.

Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes

Translated by Frank Wynne

I would never have predicted that Virginie Despentes, creator/director of the 2000 rape-revenge novel and film Baise-moi, author of the superb ‘State of the Nation’ Vernon Subutex Trilogy, and a unique take on feminist philosophy in King Kong Theory would write an epistolary novel – but she has! Readers of French classics among you may recall that Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses is written in letters, mostly between the novel’s two main protagonists, lovers-turned-rivals the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. When you think about it, the Laclos novel is a #MeToo story, and although that is the initial theme of Despentes’s novel, it’s not the only one as we’ll see.

Published as Cher Connard in France, Despentes’ regular English translator Frank Wynne has gone for a matching alliteration in the title in English, which is typical of his care and sense of humour! It all begins when author Oscar posts disparaging comments on Insta about an ageing film star Rebecca Latté he spotted in Paris. She replies in no uncertain terms! But they strike up a correspondance, as Oscar’s sister used to play with Rebecca when they were kids. It’s soon revealed that Oscar is the subject of a #MeToo allegation from his publicity assistant. However the real meat of the story is about drug and booze addiction and the pair help each other through it via their emails over a lonely lockdown. Cleverly done.

Read my full review HERE

Source: Review copy – thank you! Maclehose hardback, 320 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiliate link (free UK P&P)

The Unfinished Harauld Hughes by Richard Ayoade

Ayoade is proving to be one of our finest satirists and his latest book which reads like narrative nf, but is totally made up is just brilliant. He’s recreated the mythical life of the late Harauld Hughes, a playwright, poet and screenwriter from the 1960s, who just happens to be the dead spit of Ayoade, who then goes in search of him, hoping to make a mockumentary. Ayoade has gone so far as to write Hughes’ entire output too.

Ayoade has clearly had great fun, and in the case of this book, has the good sense to know that to make it any longer would be too much of a good thing. At 180 or so pages, including lots of white space, it’s just right. It’s witty, clever, hilarious, twisted, meta and I loved it.

(If you have BBC iPlayer, he was on Graham Norton talking about it, and he and Colin Farrell performed one of Harauld’s ‘muscular’ poems – brilliant! From 32 mins in – click here.)

Read my full review HERE.

This is my first review for Novellas in November 2024, hosted by Rebecca and Cathy.

Source: Own copy. Faber, hardback, 192 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiliate link (free UK P&P)