Monday, September 20, 2010

Telling tales...



Saw this article about DBC Pierre at the Melbourne Writers Festival on lit blog The Outlet. In it they call him a wonderful lunatic. He of the 2003 Booker Prize winning Vernon God Little, which I haven't read, is pounding the pavement with his new novel called Lights Out In Wonderland which I'm thinking I might. Partly because he seems so nuts - in a crazy irreverent creative kind of way.
On Enough Rope in 2006 Andrew Denton described him as 'living proof that truth is stranger than fiction'. The Sydney Morning Herald interviewed him via telephone when he was in Scotland recently and said he sounded 'so sober he could only be very drunk'. In his defence, it was 3am by his clock. What else would one be doing up at that hour, in a bar, in Edinburgh?
DBC Pierre (aka Peter Finlay from South Australia - via Mexico, Spain, England, the West Indies and now Ireland) was born in a winery, raised in a mansion in Mexico City, had a ten-year-long house party to cope with his father's death, did loads of drugs, lived the life of the jet-set, fraudulently sold a friend's apartment and lived as a recluse for a time listening to Russian and German orchestral music. Among other things. 
And he's written four novels. If Hank from TV's Californication was a real living person I reckon they'd hang out. 
Can anyone out there recommend any of his books?

3 comments:

evaf said...

I really liked most of Vernon God Little... That's not much of a review is it. I agree that what I've seen so far about this book makes me want to read it too.

Rubyfire Writes said...

Ha! Succinct I would say :) What bits didn't you like?

evaf said...

I thought it lost it a bit in the last third - a bit too obvious with the social commentary. Still worth reading though.