Customer Reviews (1)

More Highlands Hi-jinks
Warner's fourth book bears many marks of similarity to his first three, both in subject matter, imagination, setting, and unevenness. Set in the same part of Scotland's Western Highlands, the story revolves around the port town of Oban. As in Morvern Callar and to a lesser extent These Demented Lands, there's a central figure wandering the landscape in semi-picaresque fashion in pursuit of a large sum of cash. The protagonist is "The Nephew" a semi-homeless tinker whose legendary wild uncle (the title character) has stolen a pub's World Cup pool money. As he wanders the highlands a step behind his uncle, the Nephew (who is a bit of an oddball himself) manages to get in situations where he has weird sex, takes odd drugs, pukes, drinks, urinates in a doll's head, feasts with nobility, and gets mixed up with an inordinate number of total weirdoes. Warner's fictional Highlands are a sort of rural New York where every time you turn around there's some madman who's all to happy to include you in his world.

Warner's first two books, especially These Demented Lands, exhibited a kind of wild borderline surrealism that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. These Demented Lands didn't really have enough of a narrative line and ultimately fell apart, however here he's got just enough of a plot to keep everything together. The Nephew's quest is often hilarious, often horrifying, and wholly imaginative, while at times veering off course and just barely holding together. Warner's clearly a talented writer and this is one of his better efforts, but I'd still suggest trying his much more accessible The Sopranos before you delve into this. ... Read more

Product Description
This book and CD gives you all that you need to play awesome lead guitar, from blues and country licks to speed-picking and two-handed tapping. 100 fantastic lead licks in tab and standard notation by Alan Warner. All of the licks are demonstrated on the CD by the author. Also includes stunning guitar solos showcasing the licks in each style. This incredible collection provides every guitarist with an arsenal of lead guitar tricks to create jaw-dropping solos. ... Read more

Product Description
As the choir from Our Lady of Perpetual Succor for Girls, in rural Scotland, is bussed into the big city to participate in the national singing finals, five of the teenage schoolgirls let loose for a night of pub crawling, shoplifting, and body piercing. And, since a nuclear submarine has just anchored in the bay, the local nightclub will be full of sailors on leave. After a bout of preparatory drinking, the girls are ready for their big night-and what a night it will become. An outrageous tale of adolescent debauchery, The Sopranos opens the lid on desire and excess in all its grim glory. A huge bestseller in England, it is a remarkable mix of near-violent energy and tender compassion, and confirms Warner, the writer "who defines the '90s as clearly as Ian McEwan defined the '70s and Jay MacInerney the '80s" (Time Out) as "the best of the new Scottish writing" (Salon).Amazon.com Review
If there's any justice, Alan Warner's third novel, The Sopranos,will lead to a sudden fad for artificially shortened kilt skirts, brightshoelaces, and flaming sambuca shots. As it is, we might have to settle forthe sopranos themselves, six memorably vile-mouthed Catholic schoolgirlssent from their drab port town to "the big, big city" for the Scottishnational choir finals. There Warner follows them as they shop, smoke, eatBig Macs, consume staggering amounts of alcohol, and pay no attentionwhatsoever to the competition. Winning, after all, would defeat theircentral goal: returning in time for the slow dances at the Mantrap and thepromise of submariners on leave. In the end, it turns out that the nuclearsubmarine has stopped in their harbor only to unload a dead sailor, and thegirls must console themselves with alcohol, sex, a veritable inferno offireworks, and even one heartbreakingly courageous kiss.

By turns bawdy and tender, funny and sad, The Sopranos facesadolescence head-on, without sentiment or false hope. Youth, for thesegirls, is precious precisely because they have so little to look forwardto. When their friend becomes pregnant, she's already "devoured the fewopportunities for the wee bit sparkle that was ever going to come herway." When the nuns' parrot--who likes to spout Spanish obscenities duringMass--escapes from the school, his bright colors are "like a happiness thatwasn't allowed below such skies, against these curt roof angles of slateand granite." Theirs is a grim, circumscribed world, but the sopranos shinelike tropical birds against the background of gray. --Mary Park ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

A Great And Difficult Book
I admit the accent kind of annoyed me at first. Then I got comfortable with it and settled into a story I could not put down. It's all the things the other reviewers say it is. Disgusting, funny, shocking, heartbreaking and above all gorgeously observed. My Scottish boyfriend turned me onto Warner in a debate about the existence of a "Scottish sexuality". This book and Warner's 'The Man Who Walks" won his argument for him.

You'll either love it or you'll fling it across the room in disgust. Maybe a bit of both. Warner is magic.

A Great And Difficult Book
I admit the accent kind of annoyed me at first. Then I got comfortable with it and settled into a story I could not put down. It's all the things the other reviewers say it is. Disgusting, funny, shocking, heartbreaking and and above all gorgeously observed. My scottish boyfriend turned me onto Warner in a debate about the existence of a "scottish sexuality". This book and Warner's 'The Man Who Walks" won his argument for him.

You'll either love it or you'll fling it across the room in disgust. Maybe a bit of both. Warner is magic.

outstanding welsh-esque coming of age novel
After "slogging" (not in sopranos speak) through the first few pages of this exceptional story and getting used to the near-undecipherable vernacular of the sopranos, I was dead-on hooked. I can only describe this novel as a scottish female version of the movie "Go" or perhaps a tarantino-esque irvine welsh story, but that wouldn't do justice to the interludes of truth, meaning, and compassion that exist between outrageous scenes of cheerily lewd behavior. At the end, I knew each girl very closely and cared about the plights of each one - and, as in all good books, immediately wanted a sequel. So, you know what this story's about, just go grab it ASAP and thank me later, you won't be dissappointed.

Harpy Diem
Five Catholic schoolgirls from a sleepy backwater descend on Edinburgh and try to cram a year's worth of debauchery into a single day.No matter that they've come to the big city to sing in a choir competition.Achieving pitch perfection isn't high on their agenda.Getting legless is.Warner's Scots prose, a veritable flayed and steaming haggis of savory bits, sputters out without "embarrassedness" the joys and horrors of drink and bodily functions.Kyla, Chell, Manda, Orla, and Finnoula (the Cooler) play a game of gross out one-upmanship, coaxing the refrain "Dinnae scum us out!"Only slowly do the sopranos emerge as distinct characters with vulnerable underbellies.The welcome introduction of English Kay, a bourgeois and well-spoken girl with a place at university, further emphasizes their collective, class bound nature.But the novel is far more Marx Brothers than Marx.Gags and jokes abound as the girls seize the day by the juggler.With more appetite than skirt, they follow Sambuca swilling Finnoula's creed that "If yur goan be a bear; be a grizzly bear."

Delightful and poignant
This is a gem of a book, and as others have noted, will make a great film.Warner's use of dialect in the novel is much more accessible than that of his countrymen James Kelman and Irvine Welsh.It's necessary, and not overdone.The Sopranos are a vivid, believeable collection of Catholic schoolgirls from the west coast of Scotland.They are lusty, naughty, loving, hating, ambivalent, caring, violent, sad--yet with a will to keep going.They're like high school kids the world over in the turn of the millenium... you'll love them, they'll shock you.You'll see girls just like them in New York and Tokyo and Paris and know they're similar in so many ways.Definitely a worthwhile read... ... Read more

Product Description
Hard-edged and iconoclastic, the new wave of Scottish writers and their godfather, Irvine Welsh, write a darkly funny brand of fiction about people on the fringes--junkies, soccer hooligans, ravers, working-class youth. This anthology of six full-length novellas features raw and exciting works by Welsh and such up-and-coming authors as Alan Warner, James Meek, Gordon Legge, and Laura J. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Introduction to "New" Scottish Writing
An excellent introduction to "new Scottish writing" this collection features one short story each from Irvine Welsh (Filth, Trainspotting, Ecstacy Club, Maribou Stork Nightmare), Alan Warner (MorvernCallar, These Demented Lands,The Sopranos), Gordon Legge (The Shoe, InBetween Talking About the Football), James Meek (Drivetime), Laura Hird,and Paul Reekie. Gordon Legge's "Pop Life" is a gruffly tenderportrait of three friends who've grown up and apart. Alan Warner's"After the Vision" is typically long on tone and atmosphere as itfollows a stranded raver trying to find a place to sleep until the morningtrain. James Meek's "Brown Pint of Courage" amusingly depicts atrio of parking ticket writers who blow off their job. Paul Reekie's"The Submission" was perhaps the lesser of the six stories,written as a long rambling letter to a friend. The most "sexy"story is by the lone female entrant, Laura Hird, whose "The DilatingPupil" is about a middle-aged teacher and a female student who havedesigns on each other which are derailed in a night of booze and drugs.Irvine Welsh's "The Rosewell Incident" is the shallowest, butpossibly funniest read of the lot. It throws together alien abduction and"lads" in an unholy alliance to rule the world. A bit silly butfun. The collection as a whole is well worth checking out if you want tosee what the Scottish kids are up to. ... Read more

Product Description
After the critical success of his first novel,Morvern Callar, Alan Warner has written an extraordinary, stirring sequel to Morvern's odyssey, confirming him as one of the most original, uniquely gifted writers to have appeared this decade.

An air-crash investigator haunts the hinterlands of an island--around the isolated honeymoon hot spot, the Drome Hotel--gathering the debris from fallen planes that the islanders have fashioned into makeshift sheds and fences; but what kind of jigsaw is he really assembling as he paces the runway?

A young woman makes landfall on the island, crossing the interior to arrive at the Drome Hotel: desperate, strange--and strangely familiar.

Meanwhile, DJ Cormorant is trying to organize The Big One, a rave on the adjacent airstrip, and from all over These Demented Lands come twisted characters, converging for one final Saturday night at the Drome Hotel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

WELL MAYBE
While "These Demented Lands" may dress up as oblique, it is fairly pale stuff compared to any number of actual surrealist works ("Nadja", "Magnetic Fields", "The Lost Steps", "The Communicating Vessels", etc.) and more coherent than -- at moments -- the charming tyranny of the Belle Époque's "Le Chant de Maldoror". The point being that Warner's work is not by definition "surreal". As for contemporary examples, well, Philip K. Dick comes to mind, but his work is typically more clear in purpose.

So, only guessing here, but the book's conception seems to seek to address some consequence of the actions without consequence that drew such a luminous outline around the ethical blank vividly portrayed in and by "Morvern Callar". As such, it seems an interesting exercise to this reader, shading the impressions of what went before in a different context. Due to its fantastic nature however, these trials usually seem less portentous than the ultimate non-events occurring in the assumed "real world" of the former book and its still curious model railway component. But there seem to be many flaws, least of which might be holding off on identifying the main character until the very end -- short of a few obvious tells -- which strikes me as needlessly manipulative and, worst case, cliché -- a cheap trick. And the greatest of which might be the profound change in voice that occurs about half way through "These Demented Lands". Stripped of the stylistic colouring of Morvern's original first-person narrative, Warner's prose seems to go flat, becoming less distinct, less compelling and far more like many things other than.Still, credit to the author for a valid and brave experiment in avoiding the formulaic trap of many and other writers.

Don't give up!
This is a great book, continuing the story from Morvern Callar. However at times it is very confusing and the beginning does not make much sense to most people, but don't give up it all becomes clear as the book progresses.

Not as straightforward as Morvern Callar but when you get into the characters it is really amazing.

Not Quite as Good as I Expected...but Almost
This highly praised book was extremely well-written but not as well plotted as I expected it to be.I realize the story was more surrealistic than realistic, but I feel both the Drome Hotel and the character of DJ Cormorant should have played a larger role in the story.

The characters were as twisted and demented as the story of which they are a part.I felt distanced from them but I think this is to be expected when reading a story such as this one.

I enjoyed this highly-imaginative book as a change of pace and it's obvious that Alan Warner is an innovative, original and brilliant writer.I think These Demented Lands will appeal to those who enjoy surrealistic, hallucinatory, postmodern literature.Those who require more conventionally plotted stories will probably be disappointed.Nevertheless, if you're looking for something different, give this well-written book a try.

Dark and Surreal
These Demented Lands, Alan Warner's second novel is a sequel of sorts to his highly praised first novel, Morvern Callar.These Demented Lands is a dark, eerie, surreal and sometimes hilarious journey into the landscape of postmodern literature.Warner's characters are carefully crafted and highly memorable and posses many of the qualities of archetypes.The novel, itself, is somewhat of a dark and stormy post-apocalyptic fantasy.

The book's protagonist is Morvern Callar, herself.As the novel opens, Morvern is swimming away from a sinking ship, a small girl in tow.After returning the child safely home, Morvern begins her own strange journey across the island.Rumors concerning the fate of the other passengers on board the ship abound and, as they do, a host of newcomers descends on the island.Morvern meets, and is immediately attracted to, a mysterious man known only as the Aircrash Investigator.Although he seems to be pillaging the island's makeshift fences and sheds for crash debris, his real purpose is something of a mystery.

Warner has peopled his novel with an odd assortment of characters, yet each one is perfect and perfectly-drawn.Besides Morvern, herself, and the Aircrash Investigator, there is Devil's Advocate, a cigar-smoking fat man who assesses candidates for sainthood; there is Brotherhood, the owner of the Drome Hotel, a popular honeymoon resort; and a DJ who is determined to put together the biggest party the island has ever known.The myriad of minor characters that live in the pages of this novel are just as perfect.

The prose in These Demented Lands can be difficult at times, especially for those who prefer a more flowing style.Warner, however, is one of the most talented writers now at work and this book is superbly told with Morvern's own independent and unflinching frankness.The dialogue is sometimes as absurd as is the character speaking, but this only enhances the book's believability and its appeal as well as its strangeness.Warner's story does parallel certain Christian myths, in a surreal sort of way, as should soon become apparent, from the characters' strange names, if nothing else.And, although this is a dark book, some of the dialogue is hilariously funny.

These Demented Lands is a complex story about complex characters.It is too bad it has been somewhat overlooked in favor of more commercial but far less polished books.Alan Warner is an extraordinarily good writer and These Demented Lands is an extraordinarily good novel.

What A Mess...
What a mess this is... This "darkly intoxicating brew" (The Guardian) picks up the story of young a young Scottish lass (see his debut,"Morvern Callar") as she returns from the continent. She comesto a wee little island where honeymooners stay at a weird hotel, andthere's a cast of supporting bizarros. Really tough to get through and nonetoo rewarding despite occasionally clever language at times. Warner's gottalent, but try his much more accesible "The Sopranos" beforetrying this. ... Read more

Product Description
This is part of a new series of guides to contemporary novels. The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years – from ‘The Remains of the Day’ to ‘White Teeth’. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Totally worth reading
This is worth reading just for the extended interview with Alan Warner alone - one of the most interesting and revealing discussions with a novelist I've read in ages. He's incredibly forthright about his own thoughts on the novel, like this: 'I see her boyfriend as a sort of existential figure, who was well travelled. Although he came from the middle classes, I don't think he was bourgeois. He was leading something of a double life - she didn't know how much money he had and so on, I suppose it was a dishonest relationship in that sense, but I think it was happy nevertheless.' If you're into this novel at all, or the movie (which is AWESOME), then try to track down a copy of this book. Don't be put off by the ... phrase 'reader's guide' on the front cover, it's much much better than that. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Warner Collection
This book is a must for anyone interested in American folksongs. It ranks right up there with the Lomax, Beldon, Hunter, and Randolph collections. It may be hard to find, and a bit pricey, but well worth the effort. I'd give it ten stars if the rating would go that high. You will enjoy this collection.
Michael Breid, a.k.a.Arkansas Red-Ozark Troubadour
Ozark Mountains, Arkansas

I can't believe what an incredible book this is.
You may go to this book to find out about the Warner's fascinatingsong-collecting trips begun in western North Carolina in 1938 and lastinginto the 1960s, but you'll find an amazing repertoire of songs waiting tobe sung.

Tom Dooley is the song Frank Proffitt sang to the Warners longago. The Kingston Trio heard Frank Warner sing it in the 1950s and made ittheir signature song. But it is only one of hundreds of songs that theworld is waiting to hear.

Read the words of rural America in the voice ofLee Monroe Presnell, Yankee John Galusha or Grammy Fish. These are singersthe Lomaxes would have spent a lot of tape on.

The songs themselves wouldbe enough, but this is a book full of Anne Warner's scholarship andthoughtful treatment of her subject. Frank Warner's photographs will takeyou to a far off place. ... Read more

Product Description
For a playboy like Manolo — handsome, fastidious and more than a little vain — to be told by his doctor that he is HIV-Positive is, it would seem, the end of everything. Alan Warner’s fifth novel delights and provokes with vivid, erotic flashbacks to play back Manolo’s life in passionate Technicolor. ... Read more

Product Description
The sequel to "The Bottom Line", containing the story of Phil Moorley and Chris Goodhart. Moorley considers financial matters such as stock market valuation, acquisitions/mergers, strategic cost analysis, accounting for management control and transfer pricing. ... Read more

Product Description
Today companies come under intense pressure to create and measure shareholder value. Managers need to get to grips with performance measures in order to do so. But which of the numerous value creation models should you adopt?This best-selling briefing -- now revised and updated in a second edition -- provides a much needed independent review of the different value creation models and offers practical advice on how such a system should be implemented. The viability of alternative approaches is assessed through practical examples. The briefing then explores the ways in which you can maximise shareholder value at both strategic and operational levels within your company.Contents include: *Financial performance measurement in context *Operational measures of business performance *Shareholder ratios *Economic value added *Other approaches to measuring shareholder value at corporate level *Cascading shareholder value measures into the business *Value based management *Case studies Features new content on: *economic value added (EVA) *total shareholder return (TSR) *cashflow return on investment (CFROI) *updated case study material ... Read more