When the A list meets the D-cup

...that is the rather appropriate blurb for rather extraordinary debut novel- Star by Pamela Anderson. From all accounts it seems like a semi-pornographic story about an aspiring starlet called Star Wood Leigh who wears skimpy t-shirts with messages such as "Shuck me, suck me, eat me raw" and aspires to make it big in Hollywood. Ms Anderson admits that the story is partly autobiographical and that the name of the protagonist is the name she would have adopted had she been a porn star, and then provides this fascinating insight: "Somebody told me once that you figure out your porn name by taking the name of the first pet you ever owned and combining it with the name of the first street you ever lived on."

Despite the rather thin storyline, the debut novel has quite obviously generated some media interest (perhaps because it features her topless on the cover and contains a fold out nude photo of herself) and the Independent even admits that as far as trash goes, it's not all that bad, and she herself is quite pleased that she need not take her top off to get people to say that it's not all crap.

It's all in the head

To date, Putu's most creative plot for a best selling novel came in the middle of the night in a Glasgow hotel..but never having managed to actually to write that novel, Putu is most heartened to see this latest enterprise by Sam Brown and Caroline Jupp. Titled The Library of Unwritten Books, this mobile collection will contain unwritten gems such as The Man who was Addicted to Seeing and Scrumping in Persia. Carried around in a little trolley this art exhibition, which is what this really is, will be on at the Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth till August 28, which means...ahem, that there is little chance of Putu personally visiting it. Which makes me wonder why no one's ever done this online before....a blog in fact, would be a good place to start. So if any fellow Putuian has an unwritten novel that they can't quite get across to Brown and Jupp in time, Putu would be glad to blog it.

Faking it

Books about lies and books that lie- 'fake' books of various kinds have been in the news. While most of Putu's erudite readers would be familiar with the story of Norma Khouri and her book about honour killing in Jordan, a new book about lying has just hit the bookshelves. Linda Greenlaw who was denied the opportunity of starring in the The Perfect Storm with George Clooney has written a book titled "All Fishermen are Liars'. A fisherwoman by profession, in a tough male dominated world she chronicles the exaggeration and lies that a characterises a fisherman's world. In her own words: "And it's not only the quantity of fish that gets twisted, it's also the location where they were caught and the type of gear, bait and technique I found successful," she writes. "Hell, I have even been known to stretch the weather report to my advantage." But the NYT has been less than kind to her and suggests that while she is "a terrific spinner of sea stories", "On dry land, where drama is not as reliant on the threat of physical peril, she is awkward and uncomfortable describing her emotions."

House of Bush, House of Saud

The Kuwaiti government in all its wisdom has banned Fahrenheit 9/11 for exposing links between the Bushes and the Bin Ladens. All the evidence that Moore presents and more has been catalogued in Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud and Putu recommends this review by Martin Jacques in the Guardian. Interestingly, in a related development, Amazon UK has refused to carry the book on its website. As this article points out, this is more than baffling because the book is available on its US site, and can be ordered to the UK by someone in the US. And given the general litigious nature of life in America, Putu can't help but wonder why Amazon is more worried about being sued in the UK than in the US. Frankly Putu can't quite figure out why Amazon should be sued at all....but then again maybe all the butterscotch icecream I've had today has made my brain a trifle slow..........

Ghosh versus Roy?

Putu recommends that you read this interview of Amitav Ghosh by Indrajit Hazra and take particular note of this bit:

"There is also the more obvious ecological message in your book. How seriously were you trying to impart it to the reader?

Ecological destruction does bother me. But I’m a writer, not an activist. So for me, it was a concern that I firmly placed within my story. The problem in India is that the State’s ecological programmes are sometimes lopsided. People are not allowed to gather honey from regions of the forests as it will disrupt the ecological balance. But then how do they earn their living? The root of the people-environment problem is left untackled."

Not sure if he's saying something nasty about Ms Roy, and it's unlikely that Amitav Ghosh would. But he makes a subtle point about the 'duty' of the writer that rather different from one the one which Ms Roy makes about the need for writers to be activists as well.