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[CHUCK LIDELOL]

Aw fuck, just bumped the 2007 version of this.

Fucked if I can remember what I've read before last week. However;

A Child Called 'It'. This was sitting at my desk in work, quite randomly. I'd heard a bit about it and the blurb piqued my interest. I fired through it in a few hours while 'working' (although it is a really easy - structurally if not content-wise - read). Great piece of non-fiction. Harrowing isn't the word.

Some Russell Brand Biography. Rubbish. Tat. Extracts from stand-up, magazine interviews and his own autobiography mixed in with useless info about West Ham and radio hosting. Again, a quick read in the workplace.

Gigantic; The Story of Frank Black & The Pixies. Without question, the worst book I've ever read. An abhorrent, useless, insulting and insipid waste of time, effort and paper. It's a shoddy, short run though the history of the band that shows a complete lack of understanding of Pixies' music. No significant background on any of the band members aside from a shallow analysis of Black's early life. The author is so condescending and pompous, often taking digs at Frank's song writing and weight (unnecessarily) seemingly because the band refused to give him an interview. What really takes the cake is that half of the book is made up some fictional story about a teenage brat who loses the plot, called Vicky. This story is ENTIRELY unconnected to the band (aside from a lose obsession twist). Woeful fiction. A terrible read that doesn't do justice to the band - it actually lessened my enjoyment of Pixies & Frank Black's work.

The Most Evil Men & Women in History. This is a compilation of short histories of evil bastards from back in the day, beginning with Caligula, right up to Edi Amin. Really gruesome and quite interesting but not really a book you'd feel like you couldn't put down. It was taken from a channel five TV show but despite that, I enjoyed the work. Easily accessible due to the short stories nature and educational too.

Junkie by William S. Burroughs. This was fine stuff. I'd tried to read Naked Lunch a few months ago but I couldn't make hide nor hair of the nomenclature. 'Junkie' comes with a handy glossary, so this problem is non existent here. A really enjoyable read, short too, which is a bonus when dealing with the grimy subject of drug addiction. Quite humorous in places however the author comes across as cold a lot of the time in this autobiographical tale. I'll try Naked Lunch next.

Currently reading Dharma Bums by Kerouac. Probably finish this today. Quite enjoying it so far, Kerouac's writing is beautiful.

Also, is this just a list thread or what?