RealityStudio.org

nice find, decent enough "primer", im sure twas originally on at 11.30 am?

It was vaguely alright; nothing new or revelatory. I only listened to it for completists' sake, cos he knew Ballard, but I cannot stand Self's work, and you can hear the smug smarmy wannabe-gutter roll in his plummy upper-middle-class voice. There is a far better find I made recently that is an interview with Ballard done by Pat Kane from 1994.

Does Self have anything remotely worth reading? The stuff I sampled in "Quantity Theory of Insanity" was less than overwhelming. He always comes off like a poser.

I know a lot of people find Will Self to be very smug, and I concur, but I have to say I've enjoyed a couple of his works, plus I always find him to be a voice of reason on the weekly BBC political discussion programme Question Time.

I particularly enjoyed The Book of Dave, although this may be because both Self and I have an interest in the philosopher John Gray, whose work Straw Dogs and Black Mass clearly influenced it. It's written in chapters which alternate from mostly straight prose and a kindof phonetic cockney language spoken by a civilisation in the future. Similar I suppose to Burgees' Clockwork Orange, Palahniuk's (dreadful) Pygmy or most similarly Ridley Walker by Russell Hoban.

However, I should admit that I really enjoyed The Quantity Theory of Insanity, in particular the titular short-story, so perhaps I'm not the best person to offer you advice

Thanks. I enjoy John Gray, so perhaps I'll check those works out.