September | 2020 | Guy Portman's Blog

5 Transgressive Fiction Reading Recommendations

Sep 25 2020

This week I don’t feel like talking about myself, so it’s back to my old staple, reading recommendations. Here are five works of Transgressive Fiction that you might like. Well, I’m not sure they are all strictly Transgressive Fiction, but they certainly all contain transgressive elements. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Definition: Transgressive Fiction is a genre that focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual and/or illicit ways.

Glue by Irvine Welsh

Glue adeptly captures the zeitgeists of the various eras it encapsulates. The book’s scabrous descriptions will appeal to fans of Transgressive Fiction.

My Review: Glue is about four friends who hail from Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh. It begins with them as infants in the 1970s, and ends at the dawn of the new …(more)

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Set in the 1800’s, Blood Meridian is an episodic book, which is almost unparalleled in its misanthropy and repugnant content.

My Review: ‘The Kid’ is a fourteen-year-old hailing from a Tennessean backwater. Following an ill-fated stint as a conscript in a Mexico-bound militia, he is …(more)

Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis

Glamorama adeptly captures the hedonism of 1990s New York. The text is punctuated with numerous pop-culture references.

My Review: Victor Ward aka Victor Johnson is a male model living in 1990s Manhattan. Victor is a vapid, soulless character, obsessed with celebrity culture, who lives an existence that …(more)

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

Survivor is an innovative and erudite social commentary, brimming with satirical observations and irreverent humour.

My Review: Tender Branson, the last survivor of the Creedish Church cult, has hijacked an aeroplane, which is now flying on autopilot. His objective: to dictate his life story onto …(more)

Red Russia by Tanya Thompson

Red Russia could best be summed up as a frenzied, post-Soviet satirical transgressive work.

My Review: Tanya has accompanied her American entrepreneur boyfriend Peter to Russia on a business trip. She is there to act as his interpreter. Their hosts are a motley collection of shady …(more)

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Hedging, Reading & More Besides.

Sep 18 2020

This week I have divided most of my time between writing, reading and hedging. The hedging is of the vegetation variety, as opposed to hedge funding. This form of hedging might not be as lucrative, but it’s probably more fatiguing.

Fortunately, my neighbour has been helping me. Otherwise it would be a Sisyphean task. Topping the hedge is going to have to wait until a suitable platform arrives from Amazon, as it’s just too high. I did briefly consider utilising a ladder. However, I came to the conclusion that using a chainsaw on a ladder probably isn’t a good idea.

The weight seems to fall off doing gardening, this despite the fact I have been drinking a few beers in the evenings.

This is my new washing machine. Two washes in and it’s working like clockwork.

It was nostalgic eating a ’99 Flake’ last weekend. I hadn’t had one in decades. They might not cost 99p anymore but they still taste just as good.

As for reading, it’s been typical fare of late. I recently finished this highly original satirical novel.

And I am currently reading this work of Transgressive Fiction.

Have a good weekend.

Reading, Ruminating & Household Appliances.

Sep 11 2020

It’s Friday again; it came around quick. My latest book, The Gazebo, has got some reviews on Amazon US, Amazon CA and Goodreads, but not on my native Amazon UK as of yet.

As for me, I’ve been writing, reading and mourning the demise of my washing machine. It’s standard procedure for people to say how much better x or y was back in the day. In the case of household appliances, it really does hold true. Contemporary washing machines and dishwashers can’t hold a candle to their predecessors of the 1980s and early 90s. My household was graced by only two washing machines during my childhood and adolescence, and the first was replaced through choice, in favour of a larger model.

I’ve been through five washing machines thus far during my adult life. I’m presently waiting for number six to arrive. The rot set in with no.5 when all the wash cycles stopped working apart from quick wash. When it finally stopped spinning earlier this week, the writing was on the wall. If life expectancies are anything to go by, I’ll get through another nine, and that’s assuming the things don’t regress further.

Bosch – once a symbol of robustness and quality, now one of fragility and incompetence. Old habits die hard – I’ve just bought another. This one’s the dead one.

Here is a slow worm I stumbled across on my afternoon walk yesterday.

My hedge got very scruffy during lockdown. It’s time to give it a cut with a chainsaw on a pole. It could be a disaster waiting to happen. Wish me luck.

Have a good weekend.

New Release: The Gazebo Is Only 99p/99c

Sep 04 2020

My seventh book, The Gazebo, was unleashed on the world on Tuesday (Sep. 01). For a limited time only, it is only 99p/99c from all major retailers. The price will be raised next week. It is also available as a paperback.

Bawdily Brilliant Black Comedy

Two men’s lives are about to implode. Can they save themselves before it’s too late?

The first reviews are already up on Amazon US & Goodreads, and they’re good ones. As for the launch thus far, it has been a mixed bag. The enthusiasm shown by some of my ‘fans’ who have already read The Gazebo has been very encouraging. The apathy displayed by large sections of my mailing list, less so.

If you like dark humour you’ll love The Gazebo; and if you don’t you probably won’t. Have a good weekend.

The Links: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Goodreads, Kobo CA, Smashwords