BOOKS OF THE WEEK
NON-FICTION
Raven Smith’s Men by Raven Smith is published in hardback by Fourth Estate, priced £14.99 (ebook £7.99).
KNOWN for his witty social media presence, funny Vogue columns and ability to capture the zeitgeist, it’s hard not to like Raven Smith. But, unfortunately, he perhaps is better suited to essays and small bites of content. In Raven Smith’s Men — an autobiography loosely based around the men in his life, from the important to the fleeting — it all feels a bit frenetic. There are too many similes and metaphors, and Smith jumps from topic to topic with blinding speed. Perhaps each chapter would be better suited as a solo piece, rather than a full book. Getting the balance between witty and insightful is tough — at times Smith nails it, such as the sections discussing his relationship with his stepfather, or the finale analysing the patriarchy and why he’s so obsessed with men.
7/10
(Review by Prudence Wade)
Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz is published in hardback by Sceptre, priced £18.99 (ebook £8.99).
FOR anyone who has gone through the last few years and thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse, Steve Toltz’s latest novel Here Goes Nothing is here to prove you wrong. Angus Mooney is trying to come to terms with his own death, as his murderer makes moves on his pregnant widow. Meanwhile a new, even more deadly, pandemic is sweeping the globe. This vision of the afterlife is far from utopian, with the dead taking all the worst aspects of human nature with them as they depart the mortal plane. Toltz – whose debut novel A Fraction Of The Whole was shortlisted for the Booker Prize – offers wit and plenty of food for thought.
7/10
(Review by Eleanor Barlow)
Time Is A Mother by Ocean Vuong is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £14.99 (ebook £8.99).
OCEAN Vuong is a writer to watch — he proved that in his impossibly moving debut book On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous. This is his second poetry collection, and he touches upon many of the same themes — sexuality, being an immigrant in America, art — plus, throughout the poems, he’s constantly grappling with the death of his mother. While some of the more experimental poems don’t feel hugely accessible, the simpler verses feel more powerful. Vuong is certainly a talented writer, but will likely reach more people with his fiction than poetry.
7/10
(Review by Prudence Wade)