Enjoy Sensibly Visit Visit facebook.com/CaptainMorganIreland TheCAPTAINMORGANwordsandassociatedlogosaretrademarks.CaptainMorganRumCo.2009. Follow Captain Morgan on facebook as he continues his global adventure. Win weekly legendary prizes, get the lowdown on upcoming parties all over the country and challenge Captain Morgan and his Morganettes to Dare The Captain and win 1,000 in cash. Got A Little CaptainInYou? OMG etc, the latest instalment of Hollywood glam from Jackie Collins is another OTT riot of designer labels, private jets, sex, murder and prostitution. Annabelle Maestro, film stars daughter and New York madam to the rich, starts a run of bad luck when a $30,000-an-hour assignment with a sheikhs 15-year-old son goes badly wrong. Then her estranged mother is found murdered and shes forced to return to LA with her cokehead boyfriend and old high-school acquaintances all of whom are some combination of major sexy, way hot and/or mega rich. Given her storylines are the disguised truth about the rich and infamous, Collins at less than full strength is still ridiculously addictive. Siobhn Murphy What power an editor? Quite a lot in the case of Gordon Lish, who famously reduced Raymond Carvers debut short story collection (published as What We Talk About When We Talk About Love) by 50 per cent. Under pressure from Carvers wife Tess With shades of Sherwood Andersons Winesburg, Ohio in structure, although not in style, De Berniress short- story collection presents a satisfyingly complete world shaped around the eccentric residents of Surrey village Notwithstanding. So when you meet 42-year-old Archie, who lives with his mum and talks to her via walkie-talkie from the garden, or 11-year-old Robert, famed for his vivacious pet rook, you can be sure theyll crop up again in a few pages time. De Berniress romantic vision of Englands rural communities occasionally borders on twee but its tempered by the authors true memories of growing up in such a place and his unsentimental grasp on the reality of country life. This is a whimsical book with unexpected bite; De Bernires is just as likely to shock you with a brutal twist as he is to make you wryly chuckle. Claire Allfree brains Cutting edge: Conor McMahons latest horror film The Disturbed sees a deranged couple kidnap a girl and plan to torture her. But theres a catch... cynical exercise in filthy lucre. There are two kinds of people making horror films: the people who really like horror, then the people who see it in more commercial terms and theyre not that into it, he says. At the same time, there is definitely a snobbery towards making horror. It is difficult. Tell that to the audience at the Horrorthon, Dublins long-running gore fest. McMahon acts as a consultant for the festival and sings the praises of its plethora of mainstream and hardcore horror, which this year includes Jennifers Body and a 70mm version of Gremlins. McMahon may have been away for a while but, it appears, he will always have an audience to welcome his fiendish vision. Horrorthon, IFI, tomorrow until Mon, IFI, 6 Eustace Street D2. Tel: (01) 679 3477. www.irishfilm.ie. The Disturbed + Q&A with CHICK-LIT CHOICE Staying In Book Reviews Notwithstanding by Louis De Bernires Harvill Secker, 20 In the hands of a more excitable author, the many ingredients of Last Night In Twisted River would have risked coming across as overcooked. Beginning abruptly with a young mans drowning, its set initially in a rough New Hampshire logging community in 1954, where troubled widower Dominic Baciagalupo lives with young son Danny. Such a set-up feels almost clichd: a great American novelist trying to cram in as many elements of the great American novel as possible. Then, bizarrely, a confused Danny brains his fathers lover after mistaking her for an aggressive bear and the two go into hiding, fearful of being discovered by Twisted Rivers sadistic local policeman. That none of this seems overly lurid or hackneyed is thanks to a combination of Irvings ever-laconic language and prosaic cast of characters, who accept the strange death with manly stoicism. Young Danny grows to be a successful novelist and the authority of the earlier scenes is called into question. What emerges is a self- reflexive novel about authorship as the setting hurtles forward to the 21st century and the world of the great American novel begins to dissolve; indeed, the books final phases only just stop short of questioning whether it ever existed. The premise and structure are perhaps a little too ponderous to make this one of Irvings major novels but theres no mistaking a master at work, the book taking on an increasingly postmodern tone without letting go of the initial narratives nuts-and-bolts thrills. Andrzej Lukowski Book Of The Week Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving Bloomsbury, 23 Gallagher, the original manuscript including Carvers intended title has now been reproduced. So just who was responsible for the super- compressed style of the American Chekhov, so distinct that Carver- esque has become its own adjective? Stylistically, Lishs editorial slash and burn is undeniably effective: yet his interference is often at the expense of Carvers compassion. Where does this get us? With fascinating insights into process and the idea of an authorial voice, in both versions the essence of Carver remains undimmed but personally I prefer the edit. CA Poor Little Bitch Girl by Jackie Collins Simon & Schuster, 22 Beginners by Raymond Carver Jonathan Cape, 20 Wednesday, October 21, 2009 metrolife 15 lovers and losers: its a whole human compendium. Theres always something driving Bloom home, not least the fact that his wife, Molly, is cheating on him. But there are times I try to imagine what it might be like to be Leopold Bloom on the streets of London or Berlin or San Francisco. Its all about discovery. I think everyones favourite fictional character is himself or herself. We make up stories about ourselves all the time: theyre not lies, but dreams of what we might like to be. Colum McCanns new novel, Let The Great World Spin, is published by Bloomsbury, priced 13 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html