Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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All the horrors of Iraq
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
A civilian casualty of war in Iraq lost both legs
[Public Domain]
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
Sololand
By Hassan Blasim, translated by Jonathan Wright
Comma Press £10.99
SOLOLAND by Iraqi writer Hassan Blasim is a collection of three stories focusing on Iraq’s recent violent history and its devastating consequences.
One of the most established contemporary Arabic writers being published in English, Blasim represents the starkest brutalities through satire and black humour. His long-time collaborator Jonathan Wright delivers the narratives into English idiomatic style.
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An outstanding novel by Chilean writer and activist Pedro Lemebel, a poetry pamphlet by Venezuelan Natasha Tiniacos, and a children’s book of haikus singing the beauty of Cuba
FIONA O’CONNOR admires a collection that is a riposte to the armies of developers, estate agents, private capital speculators and their marketeers