Rocking the bookshelf
QUESTION Has a rock star ever written a novel of any note?
BRUCE DICKINSON, the lead singer of Iron Maiden, is a jack of all trades. Not only are his powerful operatic vocals some of the most recognisable in heavy metal, he is a commercial airline pilot, an expert fencer and a published author.
Dickinson wrote The Adventures Of Lord Iffy Boatrace while on tour with the band in 1987.
Published by Sidgwick & Jackson in 1990, it’s a sex romp in the mould of the satirist Tom Sharpe.
Lord Iffy Boatrace, whose estate is in a severe state of dilapidation, decides to raise money by arranging a shoot for the Old Boys from his public school, featuring an indestructible ‘grouse’.
Even Boatrace, with his penchant for fishnet stockings and stiletto heels, is stunned by some of the dodgy antics of his guests – to say nothing of his ex-con butler, who invents a sex machine.
Although sales were big enough to demand a sequel, The Missionary Position: The Further Advances Of Lord Iffy Boatrace, neither novel was considered for any literary awards!
A more successful example of a novel-writing rock star is Nick Cave’s And The Ass Saw The Angel, published in 1989.
He is best known for fronting the band Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and for his dark, complex lyrics.
His book tells the story of Euchrid Eucrow, a mute born with the aid of ‘a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw’, son of an alcoholic mother and a father obsessed with animal torture and the building of dangerous traps. The family live in a valley of religious fanatics, where they are shunned.
Cave’s second novel, The Death Of Bunny Munro, in 2009, is equally dark. Munro is a middleaged womaniser and alcoholic, whose life hits crisis point when his wife commits suicide. David Carroll, Beaconsfield, Bucks. LOUISE WENER is the lead singer of the Britpop band Sleeper, best known for their top-ten single Sale Of The Century, in 1996. After the band split in 1998, she wrote four well-received novels: Goodnight Steve McQueen, The Big Blind, The Half Life Of Stars and Worldwide Adventures In Love. Now reformed, Sleeper released a new album in March and undertook a tour earlier this month.
Netflix show The Umbrella Academy is based on a series of graphic novels by Gerard Way, former lead singer of US indie rockers My Chemical Romance.
It tells the story of a dysfunctional family of superheroes who pit their wits against zombie robot Gustave Eiffel. Louise Ebury, Wilmslow, Cheshire. WHILE there have been a number of pop stars turned writers, Leonard Cohen may be unique in being a successful writer turned musician. Following two books of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies in 1956 and The Spice-Box Of Earth in 1961, his first novel was The Favourite Game in 1963, which is a semi-autobiographical story about the only son of an old Jewish family in Montreal.
The highly-acclaimed Beautiful Losers is an experimental novel written on the Greek island of Hydra and published in 1966. It is a stream-of-consciousness story about an unnamed folklorist having a sexual crisis.
Having lost his wife and male lover, he turns to the history of an Iroquois saint for his salvation. Kim Smith, Cardiff. THE Smiths frontman Morrissey forged a reputation as a talented lyricist with a gift for a striking image in the 1980s. So his debut novel, List Of The Lost was highly anticipated when it was published in 2015. However, Morrissey’s tale of a 1970s relay team who accidentally kill a demon, received overwhelmingly negative reviews. ‘For all our sakes, daft old Morrissey must be urged never again to write anything longer than a three-verse pop song,’ the Mail ruled. We await his follow-up novel.
M. Cassidy, Dublin 1.
QUESTION Is the word jersey connected to the Channel island?
JERSEY’S 2,000-year history is defined by its strategic location in the English Channel.
Formerly under the control of Brittany, it was once called Angia (Andium, Agna and Augia have also been used). It was invaded by the Vikings in the ninth century, and the name Jersey is thought to be of Norse heritage. The suffix ey for island can be found across northern European coasts.
The source of the first part of the name is unclear. Scholars surmise it derived from jarth, the Old Norse for Earth, jarl (earl) or the man’s name Geirr.
Others hold that Jersey is a corruption of the Latin Caeserea, the Roman name for the island.
During Elizabethan times, Jersey and other Channel Islands began to import wool from England. The production of knitwear became so important that it threatened Jersey’s ability to produce its own food.
Despite the fact that laws were passed regulating the industry, the cottage industry for making waistcoats and woollen stockings on Jersey and Guernsey thrived through the 17th and 18th centuries. The goods were exported to England, France and further afield, and were valued for their high quality and finish. The knitted fabric jersey gained its name from the island. Mike Butler, Canterbury, Kent.
QUESTION Can consuming nutmeg induce a disorientating effect?
NUTMEG is the seed of the evergreen Myristica fragrans tree, which is native to Indonesia.
Large doses of nutmeg, far greater than those used in cooking, are known to have narcotic effects.
Nutmeg intoxication begins with an excited and confused state, followed by headaches, nausea and dizziness, a dry mouth, bloodshot eyes and memory disturbances.
It may also induce hallucinogenic effects.
Sufferers report feelings of claustrophobia, high anxiety and a sense of doom lasting up to two days. Long-term effects include hearing and nerve problems, and heart arrhythmia.
At least two deaths have been reported.
One of the main compounds responsible for this effect is myristicin, which accounts for 1.3% of raw nutmeg.
The exact manner in which it induces these effects is unclear. Because the same effects are not observed with the ingestion of pure myristicin, other compounds must also contribute. Dr R. Patel, Leicester.
IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.