The Scotsman’s verdict on Walking to Hollywood: “There must be a word – I don’t know it but Will Self will – meaning envy of eloquence, jealousy of the ability to use a large vocabulary convincingly to make the reader’s mind bounce around different levels of reality. That’s one reason Self remains such an engaging writer: the other is that underneath even his weirdest imaginings lies the kind of truths that can only be absorbed through a pair of walking feet.”
For the full review, go here
Meanwhile, Tom Sutcliffe in the Independent, writes: “When you turn to page 225 of Will Self’s new book, Walking to Hollywood, you get a modest surprise – or perhaps that should be an immodest one. There, at the bottom of page 227, is a picture of a naked man. As in the Duchess of Argyll’s notorious Polaroids, the man is in effect headless as the picture has been taken in what looks like a bathroom mirror and the reflection crops him off just above the nipples. Unlike the Duchess of Argyll’s Polaroids, it is a sexually innocent image, the shadows in the shot concealing all anatomical detail. One arm hangs down beside the torso; the other is out of sight, presumably holding the camera with which this odd image has been taken. And what makes it particularly arresting is your reasonable assumption, as a reader, that this is a portrait of the author. “Will Self’s just flashed me,” you think, before you turn your attention back to his prose – which both demands and deserves it.” Read the rest of his article here.
Sutcliffe also discusses Self’s new book on Radio 4’s Saturday Review with, among others, Iain Sinclair. You can listen to it here.
