The Book of Dave

I’ve never met Will Self but I feel like I know him. He seems all right. He’s brainy but not a bad bloke. There’s a sense he’s looking for the scraps under Martin Amis’ table but he’d probably be the first to admit it. That said he’s managed to develop a distinctive psychogeographical (look that up) voice which comes across as more down to earth than Marty. His essays can be a bit too clever sometimes but I enjoy his fiction. His latest, ‘The Book of Dave’, is an ambitious look at contemporary London through the eyes of an angry cabby. A good story in itself but Self knows that alone wouldn’t be enough so he adds an extra dimension. Dave Rudman, the cabby, writes a book to get it all out like, and the book becomes the basis, sometime in the future, of a dystopian (good word that) society with its own language based on Dave’s turn of phrase. Clever? Bloody right.

Don’t worry...it’s not as complicated as it sounds. Dave has marital problems. In fact he’s a perfect example of the modern discarded male. He’s driving all hours (and driving himself bonkers) to pay child-support for a son he isn’t allowed to see while his ex-wife Michelle is running her lingerie boutique in Hampstead and having it off with the new hubbie. There’s lots of London knowledge and cabby talk in it and along the way he has a go at just about everybody…Yanks, Arabs, Pakis, Poles, Chavs, 4x2s you name it. He specially can’t stand the flash City types he calls ‘getters’. When Dave gets a bit much we switch to the future time, AD, dated from the discovery of the Book Of Dave. What’s left of the UK exists on little island communities where the people speak Mokni. This world is ruled by a geyzer called the Driver. Dads screw the ‘opares’ (au pairs get it?), the night sky is called the dashboard, kids ride ‘motos’ and food is called curry. There’s some good laughs in it too but after a while the language gets on your tits and it’s nice to switch back to the real world where the characters are more believable.

Writing about London these days can’t be easy but there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of young novelists willing to have a go. Will’s one of the best.

© Chuck Woww. All rights reserved by the author.