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News & Tour Dates, June 2009
Hello. As we’ve already reported, the Rhodes franchise is due to be rebooted in early 2010, with the publication (by Canongate, the reigning Publisher of the Year, no less) of his sixth book, Little Hands Clapping. There will be all sorts of other goings on too - more details in the coming months…
With the 2009 leg of his never-ending world tour now officially at an end, and no new book until 2010, you would be forgiven for thinking that the rest of the year will be a Rhodes drought. But no – as well as being a recent selection of the Heat book club, his book Anthropology is going to hit the stage. Director Dan Bird is staging three performances, two in London and a grand finale at the Latitude Festival. Here are the dates:
Tue 14th July at 8pm at The Haggerston, Dalston, London E8 4AA
Wed 15th July at 8pm at Scooterworks, Waterloo, London SE1 7AE
Fri 17th July at 11.30pm in the Literary Arena, Latitude Festival, Suffolk
Rhodes has handed the production over to the professionals and won’t be involved, but rumours are sweeping the business that he’s planning on hotfooting it over to watch the Latitude performance after seeing the Pet Shop Boys on the main stage. We’ll be there – we’ve been queuing in shifts at the Suffolk embassy, here in the heart of downtown Taipei. If you see several hundred impossibly beautiful Taiwanese girls down the front, that’ll be us. Come and say hi!
So what else has Rhodes been up to? We can reveal that since our last update he has:
· DISCOVERED that Cate Le Bon has written a song about Timoleon Vieta Come Home, and it’s out on white vinyl. Rhodes always had a feeling he would be a rock star, and now it’s finally happened. In Welsh, too.
· READ They Is Us by Tama Janowitz, and declared it his Book of the Year so far.
· WATCHED a heron eat an eel. Again.
· MANAGED to get a ticket to see Steely Dan in Edinburgh. His primary school teacher, Mr Shipton, would be proud. Click here for some classic Steely Dan chuckles from the vaults.
· ENGAGED in extreme political activity, signing online petitions to bring back both Not Going Out and Sosmix. He is probably now under 24 hour surveillance.
· WATCHED a heron eat two frogs.
· SEEN Casiotone for the Painfully Alone again.
· OILED his garden bench. He still hasn’t treated the shed though.
That’s all for now. With a few quiet months ahead we could well get around to giving the site’s content a dramatic revamp. But then we always say that, and never quite get around to it.
Happy reading.
News March 09
Just a nano-update this month, to let you know that Rhodes will be doing a reading at the Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on Thursday 19th March as part of a night called IRREGULAR. It’s £5 to get in, and will also feature Joe Dunthorne, Tim Turnbull, The Black Diamond Express and some disc jockeys. Rhodes has been repeatedly assured that there will not – repeat not – be jugglers on the bill. Doors 8.30-1.00.
Rhodes will also be heading to Wales in early April to read at The Laugharne Weekend with DBC Pierre. Details below.
That’s all for now. Until next time, happy reading.
News Feb 09
You will remember that last month we hinted at some thunderously wonderful news. Well, here it is – Rhodes has finished writing his sixth book, a novel called Little Hands Clapping. His savage beast of a literary agent (his own dark side) is delighted to announce that, following tense negotiations involving some bare-knuckle fighting, a hunger strike, a rooftop vigil, a small amount of blackmail, a dirty protest and a very low altitude helicopter chase through the streets of Edinburgh, the ink is finally on the paper and the book will be published by Canongate in early 2010. We hope you can stand the wait. We’re not telling you what it’s about, but people of the book trade will be relieved to hear that it doesn’t contain a single mention of a pub quiz, so there will be no calamitous promotional trivia nights this time around.
In other news, Victor Solomon's unofficial Anthropology films have been featured on Openfilm.com, and viewed by an alarming amount of people. Are you one of them? If not, have a look. The Rhodes stories are Beauty, Bulletin, Together, Trick and Pieces. And whatever you do, don’t forget to buy the book. More sneak previews live here.
Staying on the subject of online larceny, Rhodes’ ancient story The Carolingian Period, from Don't Tell Me The Truth About Love, has been turned into a graphic novel by an artist from Belgium. Here it is. Nicely done - fortunately Rhodes seems to attract a high class of pirate. And if you haven’t yet read Don’t Tell Me The Truth, isn’t it time you did?
Tour dates in Cork and Laugharne below.
More news as it breaks.
News, January 2009
Hello. Here’s a brief update to see in the new year.
First things first, not only is Gold still available, but it has been nominated for the IMPAC Prize. We hope Rhodes wins. We firmly believe that everybody on earth should read this book, but don’t just take our word for it - here is a big thumbs up from Dave Gorman.
Second things second, Rhodes is not part of the accursed Facebook phenomenon, and nor will he ever be. Whoever has posting as him is not him. If this is you, please stop. This clip sums up what Rhodes thinks of online social networking.
Tour Dates
With no new book out this year, Rhodes will be lying fairly low on the touring front. But, old pro that he is, he will be peering over the parapet from time to time. So far a two-nation world tour has been announced:
Ireland: Cork, February 21st. Reading at the Triskel Arts Centre at 9.00. Also on the bill is poet Julie O’Callaghan.
Wales: The Laugharne Weekend, April 3-5th. Because of a clerical blunder, Rhodes has been invited back to the finest literary festival in the land for the third year running. He’ll be reading at the Fountain Inn early on the Saturday, reviving his borderline-legendary touring partnership with DBC Pierre for one lunchtime only. Other authors confirmed include Rachel Trezise (whose Dial M For Merthyr was Rhodes’ favourite book of last year, and we agree), Louis de Bernieres, Irvine Welsh, Niall Griffiths, Jon Ronson, Mark Steel and many others. As always, the witers will be joined by Titans of Rock - this year the mighty Euros Childs (whose new record is a work of Autumnal wonder) will be there, as will the equally mighty Richard James (whose Seven Sleepers Den remains album of the decade), Sweet Baboo, Cate Le Bon and little-known newcomers Patti Smith and Ray Davies.
One or two more dates may be added as the year unfolds. Who knows?
So what else has Rhodes been up to? Since we last updated he has:
• SEEN a flock of waxwings flying from tree to tree outside his house.
• WISHED his computer, washing machine, dishwasher, drill and boiler had waited for payday before packing up.
• MARVELLED at his mini Maglite as it survived a complete wash cycle in the pocket of his cords.
• NEGLECTED to apply wood treatment to his shed for the fourth winter in a row.
• DISCOVERED by chance that his book Anthropology has inspired an Umbrian ballet. Which was nice. If you are planning a ballet/opera/theme park based on Rhodes’ work, please would you let him know. He is usually quite amenable to these things.
• WRITTEN a lot of Book VI. Having hacked into his brand new computer, we are happy to confirm that it is shaping up to be a masterpiece.
That’s all for now. We’ll be back in a few weeks with what we hope will be thunderously wonderful news.
Until then, happy reading.
News from 2008 and earlier lives here.
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