Reviews

Brit-pulp! New Fast and Furious Stories from the Literary Underground by China Miéville, Darren Francis, J.J.Connolly, Michael Moorcock, Catherine Johnson, Victor Headley, Stewart Home, Roy A. Bayfield, Jack Trevor Story, Steve Beard, Simon Lewis, Tim Etchells, Ted Lewis, Steve Aylett, Jenny Knight, Billy Childish, Stella Duffy, Nicholas Blincoe, Richard Allen, Tony White, Karline Smith

rosseroo's review

3.0

I find collections like this extremely useful in that one can get a quick peek at a bunch of authors you're unlikely to have heard of with a minimal investment of time and money. This helps me separate the wheat from the chaff with a view toward future purchases--and in this anthology (which brings together 22 British pulp writers and contemporary underground writers), there's a fair amount of chaff mixed in with the wheat. First, we'll total up the wheat: Nicholas Blincoe's (cf. Acid Casuals) "The Long Drive By", Simon Lewis's "In the Box", J.J. Connolly's "Know Your Enemy", China Miéville's "Different Skies," and editor Tony White's "A0." All of these hint at good things coming from the authors. Other entries, while not bad per se, suffer from lack of context: the eminent Michael Moorcook's story "The Spencer Inheritance" is a Jerry Cornelius story and not having previous knowledge of the character makes it a less profitable read. Prolific pulp writer Richard Allen's "Author's Notes" are less meaningful if you haven't read his series of skinhead pulp books. The other 17 stories, some from writers I know, some not, did not enthuse me to track down more of their writing. Still, discovering a handful new writers to keep an eye on seems worth it all.