BookieMonster

Book Review: Gangsta Granny by David Walliams

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Jan 292012

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams, Harper Collins, ISBN 9780007443888, RRP $24.99, Available now.

Gangsta Granny cover

I know there are plenty of people who don’t like David Walliams and don’t enjoy his comedy, but me? I love him. I love his big blousy lady dress-up, love his slightly creepy sexy-man schtick, love his selling out (well, he was in Dinner for Schmucks and he’s going to be on Britain’s Got Talent, for god sakes). And since I read The Boy in the Dress, I’ve also loved his writing for kids.

Gangsta Granny is a proud addition to Walliams’ oeuvre (The Boy in the Dress, Billionaire Boy, Mr Stink), and like all the others is evocatively and hilariously illustrated by Tony Ross. Here’s a little taster of the story:

After a few moments the front door opened slowly, and out stepped a figure dressed entirely in black … A black balaclava disguised the face, but from the stoop Ben knew it was Granny. She looked like someone from one of the covers of the books she loved reading. She straddled her mobility scooter and revved the engine.

Where on earth was she going?

And, more importantly, why was she dressed like a ninja?

Ben’s granny seems pretty much like your usual boring granny (remember how you thought your granny was boring?). A bit like this:

illustration by Tony Ross, courtesy of Harper Collins

She makes a lot of food out of cabbages and farts almost constantly. She loves her grandson (Ben pretty much figures this is just his due) and he stays with her every Friday night while his parents indulge their obsession with Strictly Stars Dancing! (They’re so obsessed that they dream of their son becoming a ballroom dancer, and are terribly disappointed that he’s more interested in being a plumber.)

But Ben soon finds out that his gran is not actually just his boring gran after all…

I’m not going to spoil the story but I will say it is as funny and as poignant as The Boy in the Dress – as enjoyable for adults to read as it is for kids. There is lots of amusing moments and lots of little teary moments too. It’s one of life’s horrible little ironies that by the time you appreciate your grandparents, they’re gone, and Mr Walliams knows this.

You lose your granny all too soon, kids.

Gangsta Granny is Walliams’ best book so far. I couldn’t think of a better present for a grandchild.

Sargeson writers in residence announced

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Jan 242012

Two leading New Zealand fiction writers have been announced as the recipients of the annual Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship for 2012.

The two new fellows, David Lyndon Brown and Anna Taylor, will each spend five months in residence at the Sargeson Centre in central Auckland and receive a $20,000 grant.

Buddle Findlay National Chairman Peter Chemis says the fellowship continues to play a key role in developing New Zealand’s literary talent.

“We offer our congratulations to David and Anna and, as with so many high quality fellows who have gone before them, we’re sure they’ll make great use of the freedom from distractions the Sargeson Centre provides,” he said.

Anna Taylor completed a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2006. Her writing has been published widely in literary journals and anthologies including Sport, Turbine, and The Penguin Book of New Zealand Short Stories (2009).

Anna’s first collection of short stories, Relief, was published by Victoria University Press in 2009 and won the 2010 NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction.

“I feel incredibly privileged to be given this opportunity,” said Ms Taylor.

“Time and money are the two major obstacles when it comes to fitting writing into my life. This fellowship eases the financial pressure, as well as providing space and solitude to get words down on paper,” she said.

Ms Taylor said she would spend her time at the Sargeson Centre writing the second draft of a collection of three linked novellas.

David Lyndon Brown studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts from 1969 under the tutorage of Colin McCahon. He is the author of Calling the Fish and Other Stories (2001 University of Otago Press), Marked Men (2007 Titus Books) and Skin Hunger(2009 Titus Books).

David has also taught expressive writing to various groups including the elderly, mental health patients, recovering addicts, Maori and Pacifica writers and at the University of Auckland’s Centre for Continuing Education.

Mr Brown said he is excited and honoured to have been awarded the fellowship.

“It’s every writer’s dream – an oasis of time. I have several projects in mind, some of which have been simmering for a while, and a recent trip to Samoa has also stirred something. When I am writing I become totally immersed and this fellowship will allow me the freedom to plunge with no distractions or diversions,” said Mr Brown.

About the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship

The Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship is a national literary fellowship offered annually in partnership with The Frank Sargeson Trust. The fellowship provides the opportunity for outstanding published New Zealand writers to write full-time in residence at the Sargeson Centre, adjacent to the University of Auckland, with an annual stipend of NZ$40,000 (the stipend is shared if there are two fellows). The Frank Sargeson Trust established the fellowship in 1987 to commemorate Frank Sargeson and provide assistance for New Zealand writers. In 1997 Buddle Findlay became the commercial sponsor of the fellowship, and is proud to support the literary future of New Zealand. For more information please visit http://www.buddlefindlay.com/who-we-are/buddle-findlay-sargeson-fellowship

Win a Jane Eyre DVD thanks to Universal Home Pictures!

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Jan 232012

In the 19th Century-set story, Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) suddenly flees Thornfield Hall, the vast and isolated estate where she works as a governess for Adèle Varens, a child under the custody of Thornfield’s brooding master, Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender).

The imposing residence – and Rochester’s own imposing nature – have sorely tested her resilience. With nowhere else to go, she is extended a helping hand by clergyman St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell) and his family. As she recuperates in the Rivers’ Moor House and looks back upon the tumultuous events that led to her escape, Jane wonders if the past is ever truly past…

Available on Blu-ray and DVD from 25th January.

That’s right, chickens! I have THREE (count them) THREE copies of the Jane Eyre brand spanking new release DVD to give away to you lucky readers, thanks to Universal Home Pictures. Just fill in the form below and hit submit, then prepare to feast your eyes on the beauty that is Michael Fassbender. Or Mia Wasikowska. There’s even some literature.

Something for everyone!

Competition ends 8pm, Sunday 29 January, and I’ll announce the winners the following Monday evening. One entry per person. Winners will be randomly drawn, all judges decisions are final, blah blah blah, Michael Fassbender!

Sorry, this competition has closed.

My first Book Watch column for 2012

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Jan 192012

Originally published in the New Zealand Herald on Sunday, 15 January 2012. Reproduced here courtesy of the NZ Herald.

Snuff
By Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, $55)
Long time readers of my blog know well my fondness for Sir Terry Pratchett, so it will come as no surprise that I loved Snuff. Pratchett returns us to the City Watch of Ankh Morpork, and more specifically to Commander Sam Vimes who is about to go on holiday. Vimes isn’t much good at holidays, however, so it’s just as well that crime seems to follow him, wherever he goes. Sam Vimes has become a complex, admirable and likeable character, and I’d venture to say one of the best in modern writing. Pratchett never disappoints.

The Glass Harmonica – a sensualist’s tale
By Dorothee E. Kocks (Rosa Mira, $11, ebook)
Music, love, virtue, sex, desire – it all comes together in The Glass Harmonica, a knock-out historical novel. Our heroine for this tale is Chjara Vallé and we follow her from Corsica to Paris to America, as she falls in love, marries, has children, and plays the glass harmonica. I loved all the strands that were embedded in this story and found it quite reminiscent of Louis de Bernières. Well-written with a perfectly balanced sense of drama and tension, The Glass Harmonica is a very enjoyable read.

Gangsta Granny
By David Walliams (Harper Collins, $24.99)
As well as being a big fan of David Walliams’ comedy (he’s one half of the Little Britain team), I’m now also a huge fan of David Walliams’ books for kids. The Boy in the Dress was poignant, The Billionaire Boy was fun and now he’s combined the best of those two previous books in Gangsta Granny. Ben thinks his Granny is a bit boring. Well, she does cook nothing but cabbage and blow off without knowing it. Then he finds out she’s got a secret… A wonderful story for young and old.

Janet Frame, In Her Own Words (Penguin, $42)
Janet Frame is surely the dominant figure in New Zealand literature but, as Denis Harold points out in the Introduction to Janet Frame In Her Own Words, she’s almost become a character rather than an actual person, thanks to her three volume autobiography and the subsequent film adaptation. So reading the pieces of non-fiction, interviews, letters, speeches and other fragments collected in this work is like discovering new sides to a beloved friend. This is a great volume to have on hand and a very welcome addition to the Frame oeuvre.

Reviewed by Ngaire Atmore who blogs about books at www.bookiemonster.co.nz