Wednesday 24 June 2009

Out of stock

A sad story related by the Bookseller. The author of a "satirical travelogue" about the Orkney Islands has caused such outrage among their inhabitants that the book has had to be withdrawn from sale:

In Chucking It All: How Downshifting To A Windswept Scottish Island Did Absolutely Nothing to Improve My Life Max Scratchmann describes the inhabitants as "staid, emotionally repressed drunks, stuck in the 1950s". The book was due out 11th June, but is shown as "out of stock" on Amazon.co.uk.

5 comments:

Лев Грицюк | Lev Hrytsyuk said...

There was a similar story a couple of months ago when a French writer outraged his neighbors when he wrote a novel portraying them as " emotionally repressed drunkards" as well. And there was stone-casting and some kind of trial, but I can't provide any details. :-)

David McDuff said...

Maybe it's the same guy. :-)

Лев Грицюк | Lev Hrytsyuk said...

No, it was definitely a French writer and he wrote of his French neighbors. :-) His name escapes me...

David McDuff said...

"Max Scratchmann" doesn't sound like a real name anyway, so maybe he popped up in France under another moniker?

Лев Грицюк | Lev Hrytsyuk said...

I found him! - :-)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jun/22/books.france

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/novelist-beaten-up-by-the-neighbours-he-wrote-about-456181.html