Edward the Bonobo

How paranoia and oppression maintain their grip through little acts of complicity.

The canonical Scottish novel of the last fifty years? Hold onto your seats, but. It's well weird.

Pygmalion crossed with Frankenstein in Victorian Glasgow. It's a wonderful piece of literary invention, with its novel within a diary within a piece of historical research within a novel structure. I could mention 'meta-narrative', but shan't.

A right rollicking yarn with a an multi-stranded plot and an entertaining cast of characters. It's years since In read it, but I still remember episodes...like the old man who has his arm eaten by butterflies...the student who lives in a spider-infested shed...

Thanks for the prize, booktribes people.

A real find, this.

(Lord) Grey Gowrie once said that Higgins was the greatest living writer in English. He certainly had a good ear for the elliptical way in which people speak.

(Do I mean 'elliptical'? There's a specialist term for when you don't refer specifically to the thing you're talking about)

Joyce on acid?

A surprising gem, picked up by an acquaintance in Zazibar (!). What I liked especially was the way it integrated mathematical explanation (nothing heavy!) into a story of a man's life and relationships.

Space does not allow me to express how dire this book is. For a fuller opinion: http://bonoboworld.blogspot.com/2007/02/steal-this-book.html