Bourne Again,sequels and Poetry

Bourne Again with The Bourne Legacy and two books, Emma Brown and Captain Pan, written as sequels to other authors' existing novels,  Poetry from Margaret Atwood and Nick Laird who will both be at the Dun Laoghaire International Poetry Festival.

Also included are the ever popular Jacqueline Wilson beloved by "Tweenage" girls. Zadie Smith's  book On Beauty and Clearing The Air: The Battle over the Smoking Ban. written by Michael Gilmore.

Last week we talked of lazy sequels, and whaddya you know, the devil's work is never done. It seems that some books don't even need the original author for the book to qualify as a sequel. Obviously Matt Damon's appearances as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy has added the greasy pence together, bringing the Ludlum thrillers back to our attention and back into the bookcharts with the publication of The Bourne Legacy. This is the fourth book to detail the international shenanigans of the amnesiac spy and the fourth in the series to hit the US top 10. Alert readers will have spotted the problem with this story – Ludlum died in 2001 after publishing 29 bestselling novels. At the time of his death there was predictable talk of unpublished manuscripts but the honour for the story and its construction fell to Eric Van Lustbader, a writer of several previous techno-thrillers. We'd tell you more about the story but at this rate you might as well write your own version.

Petering Out

Clap your hands if you believe in happy endings. Even better than writing your own book (to which you can write the bound- to-be blockbusting sequel) is to win a competition to write the sequel to someone else's. Sure, Clare Boylan took it upon herself to finish Charlotte Bronte's book, eventually coming up with Emma Brown, and the Puzo family asked Mark Winegardner to write a prequel to Mario Puzo's The Godfather. Neither however, had the ignominy of entering a hundred strong competition of authors like Geraldine McCaughrean, who has just won the franchise to write the sequel to JM Barrie's Peter Pan, allegedly to be called Captain Pan. Will Peter and Wendy get a mortgage? Or, as is growing common in the movies, will they cross-pollinate with other famous stories and perhaps fly off together to Narnia? We say, stop milking products for all they are worth, leave the classics alone and get your own, new, ideas.

'Tween the Lines

Outside Waterstones on a miserable, wet Wednesday a few weeks ago, there was a long line of people queuing in the dark but still managing to look happy about their plight. Fascinated as to who could command such devotion, it was explained the next morning when Jacqueline Wilson, the writer who generated the long line, was interviewed by Marian Finucane and some breathless fans. The queen of 'tweenage' girls – the netherland between child and teenager – she deals with their issues in a forthright manner that would make Enid Blyton blush. If you are unfamiliar with the genre, you may sneer less when you learn that Wilson is the most borrowed author in UK libraries this decade. She was also the only author to have 5 books placed in the BBC poll of the Top 100 books of the (last) Century. Which means she beat out such luminaries as Rowling, Dickens and Austen. One wonders if fans of Margaret Atwood will show as much devotion when she appears at the Dun Laoghaire International Poetry Festival. As mentioned here, Ms. Atwood has recently devised and patented a device to allow her to sign her books remotely, allowing her to avoid the pesky irritation of a book signing. So bring those copies of Alias Grace and Cats Eyes before technology ruins the effect for us all.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

It's all go in Zadie Smith's house round about now where she is working on her new novel – tentatively to be called On Beauty. All this while her husband, Nick Laird, publishes his new book of poetry and finishes his debut novel Funny Monkey. Smith achieved huge success with her debut novel, White Teeth, written when she was a mere 24. A depiction of cultural and religious collision in modern London, it was followed by the slighter The Autograph Man. That book's comparatively colder reception means a lot is riding on Smith's third book if she is to fulfil her destiny as the bright young hope of the decade. Smith's recent interview with the BBC World Service gave little insight into the new book excepting that it will feature young black males, one of the few groups unrepresented in White Teeth, whose characters were Jamaican, English or Asian. She enthused on the enjoyment she is getting from mimicking their speech patterns and syntax, some gleaned no doubt from her brother, know as Doc Brown, who is a fast rising rapper in the UK. Her husband Laird's book of poetry To A Fault, recently favourably reviewed on Rattlebag, gave some idea of just how anticipated and fashionable both the books and the couple are in London at the moment. See him at the Dun Laoghaire International Poetry Festival this week to form your own view.

Air to the Throne

This week saw The Observer report on a study linking cot death to passive smoking, while a Nottingham barman filed the first claim against UK employers for severe breathing difficulties allegedly caused by workplace smoking. This could be the start of a series of actions which the bar trade and Insurance Industry have been dreading. All in the week that saw the much publicised anniversary of the introduction of the Irish workplace smoking ban, something that UK bars will introduce in areas that serve food by 2008. So, top marks for prescience to Liberty Press for their new book Clearing The Air: The Battle over the Smoking Ban. Written by Michael Gilmore, it features an introduction by Jeffrey Wigand, the former BAT employee whose battle with the industry was detailed in a stunning Vanity Fair article and realised in Michael Mann's film The Insider. Some good press for the beleagured Michael Martin at last.