Witty – DaneCobain.com

Mike Skinner – The Story of the Streets | Review

Title: The Story of the Streets

Author: Mike Skinner

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 368

Rating: 10/10

Mike Skinner – The Story of the Streets

Well now, this was never going to get anything less than a ten, was it? Skinner is a bit of a character, you see – it seems like you either love him or you hate him, and if you’re reading this review then the odds are that you love him enough to be considering reading his book. Stop reading this review, and start reading The Story of the Streets instead.

It’s presented as ‘written with Ben Thompson‘, but you can tell that Skinner himself has done his fair share of the work – certainly more so than most ‘celebrity authors‘, and he’s left his personality stamped throughout the book like graffiti. It’s almost like another Streets record, and I’ll admit that when I finished reading the book, I was left with that same ‘end of an era‘ feeling I got at the end of Computers and Blues, or when I went to see them on their final tour.

The thing that a lot of casual music listeners don’t understand is that Mike Skinner is both intelligent and witty, which make for a deadly combination. You have to be pretty damn good to be able to turn your day-to-day existence in to a string of successful records, and he proves it beyond question here – everything that The Streets ever did, he did for a reason. Now you’ll be able to find out what those reasons were.

Mike Skinner

The actual structure of the book is pretty special, too – I’m not going to explain it, but it’s something for you to look out for, as well as the colour photographs that offer glimpses in to the life of the geezer, even if they don’t always necessarily show things that Mike refers to in his manuscript. I don’t think that’s why they’re there, though – they do a great job of putting the rest of the book in to perspective.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, and I reckon you ought to read it whether you’re a fan of The Streets or not. So go out and buy yourself a copy.

Mike Skinner

Click here to buy The Story of the Streets.

Stephen Fry – The Stars’ Tennis Balls | Review

Title: The Stars’ Tennis Balls

Author: Stephen Fry

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 371

Rating: 8/10

Stephen Fry – The Stars’ Tennis Balls

I often find Fry’s writing to be hit and miss, as is evidenced by my previous reviews of his work – The Stars’ Tennis Balls, however, is definitely a hit, and it’s game, set and match for the closest thing to a literary magnum opus that Fry will ever own.

The novel tells the story of young Ned Maddstone, the kind of guy who doesn’t have a care in the world – he’s in love with a beautiful girl called Portia and she’s in love with him, and he’s doing well at his private school. His family isn’t short of money, and he excels at pretty much anything he focuses his attention on.

Unfortunately, jealousy is a dangerous thing, as Ned finds out when his so-called ‘friends’ play a practical joke on him, a joke which completely changes Ned’s life. I don’t want to go in to too much detail and risk ruining the plot, but suffice to say that he disappears for a while, and returns many years later in what can only be described as ‘quite a foul mood’.

Stephen Fry

And it’s great to see Fry at his best – his writing is witty and erudite, and the plot pulses and pushes you along throughout. It starts semi-slowly, but it’s not a huge problem because it gathers momentum throughout until you’re flying through the final pages. It’s not quite the kind of novel that leaves you feeling melancholy at the end because you want to read more of it, but it’s not far off it either.

It’s also interesting to note that The Stars’ Tennis Balls is not a comedy, despite its author’s proven abundance of talent in the area. Here, Fry shows his true potential as a writer, and you can tell that the author is having just as much fun with his words as you are. I’ve read quite a few of Fry’s novels now, and I recommend that you start here – if you like it, which I’m sure you will, then you can move on to Making History when you’ve finished. Let me know what you think.