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Tim Lott
Rumours of a Hurricane

Tim Lott

The death of homeless man Charlie Buck is unremarkable to everyone except the few passers-by who witness his drunken--and apparently voluntary--fall beneath a speeding lorry. No loved ones or friends attend his last breaths in hospital--his possessions amount to a National Insurance card, a digital watch and a newspaper obituary for a dead composer. But Charlie was a person. He had a wife and a son, his own set of dreams and personal demons, a biography no more and no less studded with dramas, defeats and victories than anyone else's.
This is the mission of Rumours of a Hurricane, Tim Lott's second novel: to chart the life of a single man, revealing it to be remarkable in its ordinariness and epic within its narrow confines. The backdrop to Charlie's tragic saga is the relentlessly changing Britain of the 1980s, a nation twisted by greed and discontent. History weaves gracefully in and out of the tale, its hero riding high as he buys his own council flat and invests in the stock market; laid low as the great storms and the recession hit his home and his business. But Lott's grasp of the recent past is by no means his most impressive talent--what dazzles on every page is his powerful grasp of the human soul and his ability to turn harsh truths into some truly fascinating fiction. Like Lott's first novel White City Blue, this is an uncompromising book, one whose messages we ignore at our peril. --Matthew Baylis
The Seymour Tapes

Tim Lott

The Seymour Tapes confirms what readers of Tim Lott have long known: he is one of the most subtle and sensitive writers at work today. In such books as White City Blue and Rumours of a Hurricane, the author has demonstrated a masterly command of subtle and allusive prose, along with a refusal to repeat himself in terms of subject matter.
The conceit of the new novel is that Lott is examining a real-life case: at the request of the widow of the late Dr Alex Seymour, he has decided to put certain facts in the public view. Seymour had experienced a life change after seeing a shoplifter caught on a surveillance camera: what was he missing in his own life that surveillance could reveal? He decides to enlist the Cyclops organisation and undertake a revealing overview of his own life--all at the behest of the charismatic American Sherry Thomas. An embarrassing scandal follows, know as the Skin Tapes. And it's this which is (we are told) the basis of Lott's investigation, as the author interrogates Seymour's widow Samantha. As with the novels of John Fowles, Lott becomes drawn into his own narrative, as Samantha Seymour puts the author himself in the limelight, obliging him to be equally as frank about things he'd rather conceal about his own life.
Sex and dark psychology are always a good recipe for a compelling novel, and Lott is as adroit as ever at marshalling the combustible elements of his narrative into a fascinating whole. His self-involvement is a dangerous gambit--and if Lott doesn't entirely pull it off, the final effect is exhilarating. --Barry Forshaw
The Scent of Dried Roses

Tim Lott
White City Blue

Tim Lott

Frankie Blue has an overwhelming desire to fit in somewhere. Up until now, his friends have kept him grounded, but, with his wedding day fast approaching, Frankie starts to question his relationship with the lads as well as his relationship with Vronky, his glamourous, sexy but suddenly nagging fiancee.
White City Blue could so easily have fallen into the makeshift-Nick Hornby-throwback trap, but is saved by the fact that it is actually quite an articulate study of a man made of little more than the suit he wears and the car he drives.
Frankie is as sharply observed as a character with little to offer can be, and he and his cronies present a darkly comic yet ultimately tragic insight into the nature of friendship between men. His relationships with Nodge, Colin and Tony seem to consist of little more than a few beers and the annual piss-up in August, yet as Frankie's time-warp of a life moves gradually forward, the real nature of their relationship is blown apart and the truth about how little they really know each other becomes apparent.
White City Blue begins with a sprinkling of familiar humour that lulls the reader into a false sense of security. By the end of the novel, the mood has darkened and the vulnerability of the hitherto cock-sure Frankie and his mates peeps through.
One for the boys, certainly--but beware: once they see there is more to this than birds and booze they may start shifting uncomfortably in their boxers.--Susan Harrison
The Love Secrets of Don Juan

Tim Lott

The Love Secrets of Don Juan sees self-pitying ad executive Daniel "Spike" Savage midway through a messy divorce at 45. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Beth, has the house in Hammersmith and custody of their daughter, Poppy. Daniel has been left with a bedsit in perpetually unfashionable Acton and a burning desire to understand why all his relationships with women end in miserable failure.
A few words of wisdom come from old friend Carol, best mate Martin and his therapist Terence but with a blind-ish date looming, Daniel takes more drastic action. He embarks on refining his identity or "brand statement" in the forlorn hope that he'll stand a better chance with the opposite sex--as he quips: "Interesting that 'opposite'. As in diametrically opposed. Not the different sex. The opposite sex." With his trusty flip chart and black marker pens he starts to analyse the lessons he has learned from each love affair--a project he dubs, ironically, The Love Secrets of Don Juan.
To begin with, Tim Lott's third novel seems to mine a furrow of laddishness all but exhausted in the late 90s by Nick Hornby and numerous stand-up comedians, invariably called Jeff. Daniel's "Women, oh they're different, aren't they?" shtick hardly appears original; while Lott's take on the ostracised "Good Dad" is pure Parsons. But Lott is a significantly better novelist than the above would suggest. His plotting can be hackneyed but this is a book full of acute humour and observations--one recurring and insistent theme is the contrast of male literalness and feminine symbolism. Daniel is richly drawn and as he negotiates the modern dating (and parenting) game, his articulate, first person narrative, peppered with brand names and marketing argot, really captures a man struggling to understand his life, love and the infuriating nuances of gender. --Travis Elborough
The Scent of Dried Roses

Tim Lott
Rumours of a Hurricane

Tim Lott

The death of homeless man Charlie Buck is unremarkable to everyone except the few passers-by who witness his drunken--and apparently voluntary--fall beneath a speeding lorry. No loved ones or friends attend his last breaths in hospital--his possessions amount to a National Insurance card, a digital watch and a newspaper obituary for a dead composer. But Charlie was a person. He had a wife and a son, his own set of dreams and personal demons, a biography no more and no less studded with dramas, defeats and victories than anyone else's.
This is the mission of Rumours of a Hurricane, Tim Lott's second novel: to chart the life of a single man, revealing it to be remarkable in its ordinariness and epic within its narrow confines. The backdrop to Charlie's tragic saga is the relentlessly changing Britain of the 1980s, a nation twisted by greed and discontent. History weaves gracefully in and out of the tale, its hero riding high as he buys his own council flat and invests in the stock market; laid low as the great storms and the recession hit his home and his business. But Lott's grasp of the recent past is by no means his most impressive talent--what dazzles on every page is his powerful grasp of the human soul and his ability to turn harsh truths into some truly fascinating fiction. Like Lott's first novel White City Blue, this is an uncompromising book, one whose messages we ignore at our peril. --Matthew Baylis
The Seymour Tapes

Tim Lott

The Seymour Tapes confirms what readers of Tim Lott have long known: he is one of the most subtle and sensitive writers at work today. In such books as White City Blue and Rumours of a Hurricane, the author has demonstrated a masterly command of subtle and allusive prose, along with a refusal to repeat himself in terms of subject matter.
The conceit of the new novel is that Lott is examining a real-life case: at the request of the widow of the late Dr Alex Seymour, he has decided to put certain facts in the public view. Seymour had experienced a life change after seeing a shoplifter caught on a surveillance camera: what was he missing in his own life that surveillance could reveal? He decides to enlist the Cyclops organisation and undertake a revealing overview of his own life--all at the behest of the charismatic American Sherry Thomas. An embarrassing scandal follows, know as the Skin Tapes. And it's this which is (we are told) the basis of Lott's investigation, as the author interrogates Seymour's widow Samantha. As with the novels of John Fowles, Lott becomes drawn into his own narrative, as Samantha Seymour puts the author himself in the limelight, obliging him to be equally as frank about things he'd rather conceal about his own life.
Sex and dark psychology are always a good recipe for a compelling novel, and Lott is as adroit as ever at marshalling the combustible elements of his narrative into a fascinating whole. His self-involvement is a dangerous gambit--and if Lott doesn't entirely pull it off, the final effect is exhilarating. --Barry Forshaw
White City Blue

Tim Lott

Frankie Blue has an overwhelming desire to fit in somewhere. Up until now, his friends have kept him grounded, but, with his wedding day fast approaching, Frankie starts to question his relationship with the lads as well as his relationship with Vronky, his glamourous, sexy but suddenly nagging fiancee.
White City Blue could so easily have fallen into the makeshift-Nick Hornby-throwback trap, but is saved by the fact that it is actually quite an articulate study of a man made of little more than the suit he wears and the car he drives.
Frankie is as sharply observed as a character with little to offer can be, and he and his cronies present a darkly comic yet ultimately tragic insight into the nature of friendship between men. His relationships with Nodge, Colin and Tony seem to consist of little more than a few beers and the annual piss-up in August, yet as Frankie's time-warp of a life moves gradually forward, the real nature of their relationship is blown apart and the truth about how little they really know each other becomes apparent.
White City Blue begins with a sprinkling of familiar humour that lulls the reader into a false sense of security. By the end of the novel, the mood has darkened and the vulnerability of the hitherto cock-sure Frankie and his mates peeps through.
One for the boys, certainly--but beware: once they see there is more to this than birds and booze they may start shifting uncomfortably in their boxers.--Susan Harrison
GREAT LYRICISTS - Morrissey (The Guardian - Great Lyricists)

MORRISSEY

A SELECTION OF SOME OF MORRISSEY'S MOST CHARMING AND ALLURING LYRICS
Growing Up Catholic: The Pursuit of Truth from Tradition to Satisfaction

Tim Lott
RUMOURS OF A HURICANE

TIM LOTT
Rostock und Warnemünde. Inside.

Tim Lott
White City Blue

Tim Lott

8 cassettes,almost 11.5 hours
White City Blue (Clipper Large Print)

Tim Lott
The Love Secrets of Don Juan (Om)

Tim Lott

The Love Secrets of Don Juan sees self-pitying ad executive Daniel "Spike" Savage midway through a messy divorce at 45. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Beth, has the house in Hammersmith and custody of their daughter, Poppy. Daniel has been left with a bedsit in perpetually unfashionable Acton and a burning desire to understand why all his relationships with women end in miserable failure.
A few words of wisdom come from old friend Carol, best mate Martin and his therapist Terence but with a blind-ish date looming, Daniel takes more drastic action. He embarks on refining his identity or "brand statement" in the forlorn hope that he'll stand a better chance with the opposite sex--as he quips: "Interesting that 'opposite'. As in diametrically opposed. Not the different sex. The opposite sex." With his trusty flip chart and black marker pens he starts to analyse the lessons he has learned from each love affair--a project he dubs, ironically, The Love Secrets of Don Juan.
To begin with, Tim Lott's third novel seems to mine a furrow of laddishness all but exhausted in the late 90s by Nick Hornby and numerous stand-up comedians, invariably called Jeff. Daniel's "Women, oh they're different, aren't they?" shtick hardly appears original; while Lott's take on the ostracised "Good Dad" is pure Parsons. But Lott is a significantly better novelist than the above would suggest. His plotting can be hackneyed but this is a book full of acute humour and observations--one recurring and insistent theme is the contrast of male literalness and feminine symbolism. Daniel is richly drawn and as he negotiates the modern dating (and parenting) game, his articulate, first person narrative, peppered with brand names and marketing argot, really captures a man struggling to understand his life, love and the infuriating nuances of gender. --Travis Elborough
White City Blue

Tim Lott

Frankie Blue has an overwhelming desire to fit in somewhere. Up until now, his friends have kept him grounded, but, with his wedding day fast approaching, Frankie starts to question his relationship with the lads as well as his relationship with Vronky, his glamourous, sexy but suddenly nagging fiancee.
White City Blue could so easily have fallen into the makeshift-Nick Hornby-throwback trap, but is saved by the fact that it is actually quite an articulate study of a man made of little more than the suit he wears and the car he drives.
Frankie is as sharply observed as a character with little to offer can be, and he and his cronies present a darkly comic yet ultimately tragic insight into the nature of friendship between men. His relationships with Nodge, Colin and Tony seem to consist of little more than a few beers and the annual piss-up in August, yet as Frankie's time-warp of a life moves gradually forward, the real nature of their relationship is blown apart and the truth about how little they really know each other becomes apparent.
White City Blue begins with a sprinkling of familiar humour that lulls the reader into a false sense of security. By the end of the novel, the mood has darkened and the vulnerability of the hitherto cock-sure Frankie and his mates peeps through.
One for the boys, certainly--but beware: once they see there is more to this than birds and booze they may start shifting uncomfortably in their boxers.--Susan Harrison
The Love Secrets of Don Juan

Tim Lott

The Love Secrets of Don Juan sees self-pitying ad executive Daniel "Spike" Savage midway through a messy divorce at 45. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Beth, has the house in Hammersmith and custody of their daughter, Poppy. Daniel has been left with a bedsit in perpetually unfashionable Acton and a burning desire to understand why all his relationships with women end in miserable failure.
A few words of wisdom come from old friend Carol, best mate Martin and his therapist Terence but with a blind-ish date looming, Daniel takes more drastic action. He embarks on refining his identity or "brand statement" in the forlorn hope that he'll stand a better chance with the opposite sex--as he quips: "Interesting that 'opposite'. As in diametrically opposed. Not the different sex. The opposite sex." With his trusty flip chart and black marker pens he starts to analyse the lessons he has learned from each love affair--a project he dubs, ironically, The Love Secrets of Don Juan.
To begin with, Tim Lott's third novel seems to mine a furrow of laddishness all but exhausted in the late 90s by Nick Hornby and numerous stand-up comedians, invariably called Jeff. Daniel's "Women, oh they're different, aren't they?" shtick hardly appears original; while Lott's take on the ostracised "Good Dad" is pure Parsons. But Lott is a significantly better novelist than the above would suggest. His plotting can be hackneyed but this is a book full of acute humour and observations--one recurring and insistent theme is the contrast of male literalness and feminine symbolism. Daniel is richly drawn and as he negotiates the modern dating (and parenting) game, his articulate, first person narrative, peppered with brand names and marketing argot, really captures a man struggling to understand his life, love and the infuriating nuances of gender. --Travis Elborough
Rumours of a Hurricane (Om)

Tim Lott

The death of homeless man Charlie Buck is unremarkable to everyone except the few passers-by who witness his drunken--and apparently voluntary--fall beneath a speeding lorry. No loved ones or friends attend his last breaths in hospital--his possessions amount to a National Insurance card, a digital watch and a newspaper obituary for a dead composer. But Charlie was a person. He had a wife and a son, his own set of dreams and personal demons, a biography no more and no less studded with dramas, defeats and victories than anyone else's.
This is the mission of Rumours of a Hurricane, Tim Lott's second novel: to chart the life of a single man, revealing it to be remarkable in its ordinariness and epic within its narrow confines. The backdrop to Charlie's tragic saga is the relentlessly changing Britain of the 1980s, a nation twisted by greed and discontent. History weaves gracefully in and out of the tale, its hero riding high as he buys his own council flat and invests in the stock market; laid low as the great storms and the recession hit his home and his business. But Lott's grasp of the recent past is by no means his most impressive talent--what dazzles on every page is his powerful grasp of the human soul and his ability to turn harsh truths into some truly fascinating fiction. Like Lott's first novel White City Blue, this is an uncompromising book, one whose messages we ignore at our peril. --Matthew Baylis