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aligeorge's review
5.0
On their website the publisher, Maudlin House, describe Portrait of the Artist as a Viable Alternative to Death as 'a softcover, 110 page, fiction 4×6 book' - and this is true, but it's more than that.
Portrait of the Artist is a sort of long list of thoughts and happenings attributed to an unnamed and presumably unlikable artist. You've probably met someone like him if you've ever been to an open mic, and these are the sorts of things he says.
There are some very funny one liners, some really poetic observations, and some profound moments too. It's quick to read through, but the sort of text you can go back and dip in and out of - in fact I've seen the author, Ross McCleary, perform excerpts a couple of times and he tends not to do things in the same order twice which is great from an audience point of view.
I think McCleary is a really interesting new Scottish writer with great talent for observation and a lot of wit about his work. Definitely one to watch, and I highly recommend having a look at this book. Also, do read the testimonials at the start and the statistical analysis at the end, these are great.
Portrait of the Artist is a sort of long list of thoughts and happenings attributed to an unnamed and presumably unlikable artist. You've probably met someone like him if you've ever been to an open mic, and these are the sorts of things he says.
There are some very funny one liners, some really poetic observations, and some profound moments too. It's quick to read through, but the sort of text you can go back and dip in and out of - in fact I've seen the author, Ross McCleary, perform excerpts a couple of times and he tends not to do things in the same order twice which is great from an audience point of view.
I think McCleary is a really interesting new Scottish writer with great talent for observation and a lot of wit about his work. Definitely one to watch, and I highly recommend having a look at this book. Also, do read the testimonials at the start and the statistical analysis at the end, these are great.
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