Among the many joys of bookselling (leaking roofs, broken toilets, smelly cellars, men with backpacks, pestering local authors, crap discounts from publishers that shall remain Macmillannameless - I could go on) perhaps the greatest is the fact that I love what I'm selling - books.
How many times have I picked a proof up, glanced at the blurb, yawned at the superlatives and then been gripped by the first few pages of what turns out to be a stonking good read?
Ok, not often. But when it happens OH BOY IS THAT EXCITING!!!!!!
It makes all the smelly loo stuff ok. It even makes mortgage people who laugh in your face about incomes ok.
So what's the book? It's called Ascent. It's by Jed Mercurio (who wrote Bodies) It isn't out until March 2007! But let me tell you you're gonna love it...
...starts off with a Soviet pilot's view of the Korean war. I loved James Salter's novel The Hunters for the depiction of the cool, clinical murder that is modern air fighting. It's great to see things from the other side. The Russian pilot concerned is Ivan The Terrible, the greatest ace of the Korean war. But the Korean theatre is only the start. Ivan ends up in the space race...
The writing is brilliant and had me ignoring my infant son. It's that gripping (or I'm that much of a bastard!)
So I'm excited about a book that's not out yet. Another perk of the job I'm afraid. But then there's always Bodies. On the table next door now...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
If you loved Salter's The Hunters, read A Sport and A Pastime and his memoir, Burning The Days.
ReplyDeletejust read a sport and a passtime - brilliant...
ReplyDeletealso on our table!
That sounds like a nice table you have there sir!
ReplyDeleteIndeed - was once described by the distinguished Mister Robert Topping as "lovely"...
ReplyDeleteA man with an eye for a table, I hear.
ReplyDeleteSusan - our virtual table is a bit out of date - well spotted...
ReplyDeleteWhen I have some spare "virtual" time I will update it. My comp at home is alos knackered at the minute which makes updating the site tricky.