Best new books of the month
- Text by Shelley Jones
Lots of memoirs this month. Dig into this selection of wild characters and adventurous lives.
Anger is an Energy: My Life Uncensored by John Lydon
The second memoir from former frontman of punk pioneers The Sex Pistols, Anger… is a no-holds-barred account of Lydon’s harsh upbringing in London and the working-class values that informed his later approach to music. Poverty, fame, scandal and honesty abound.
Narcisa Our Lady Of Ashes by Jonathan Shaw
A drunk encounter with Charles Bukowski in LA in the mid-’70s inspired then writer and punk bum Jonathan Shaw to hitchhike to and around central and south America. When he returned to New York he found work as a tattooist and established an iconic style that saw fans like Johnny Depp quick to sign up. This new work of fiction – about a passionate and doomed romance – exhibits his flair and finesse as a storyteller, taking inspiration from the things he has seen and people he has met along his travels.
Under Major Domo Minor by
Patrick Dewitt
Patrick Dewitt’s last novel Sisters Brothers was a Man Booker-nominated romp through Gold Rush California and the thieves, hit men, drunks and darlings that populate its wild landscape. His new novel Under Major Domo Minor is a gothic romantic black comedy set in a castle where things are not quite what they seem.
Dress Rehearsal Brags by
Graham Bendel
Writer and punk filmmaker Graham Bendel’s ‘Diary of a Nobody’ has been described as “Catcher in the Rye had the lead character been into Killing Joke and had accidentally dry-humped Tanita Tikaram at a Desmond Dekker gig”. Hilarious, sad, insightful and smart, Dress Rehearsal… is an A-Z of the underground, seen slightly from side of stage.
Latest on Huck
Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.
Written by: Emma Garland
In a city of rapid gentrification, one south London estate stands firm
A Portrait of Central Hill — Social housing is under threat across the British capital. But residents of the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace are determined to save their homes, and their community.
Written by: Alex King
Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home
From Sayan to Savoie — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. First up, the Siberian-born, Paris-based composer and synthesist.
Written by: Maria Teriaeva
Petition to save the Prince Charles Cinema signed by over 100,000 people in a day
PCC forever — The Soho institution has claimed its landlord, Zedwell LSQ Ltd, is demanding the insertion of a break clause that would leave it “under permanent threat of closure”.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Remembering Taboo, the party that reshaped ’80s London nightlife
Glitter on the floor — Curators Martin Green and NJ Stevenson revisit Leigh Bowery’s legendary night, a space for wild expression that reimagined partying and fashion.
Written by: Cyna Mirzai
A timeless, dynamic view of the Highland Games
Long Walk Home — Robbie Lawrence travelled to the historic sporting events across Scotland and the USA, hoping to learn about cultural nationalism. He ended up capturing a wholesome, analogue experience rarely found in the modern age.
Written by: Isaac Muk