Books : Fiction : Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards : Authors A-Z : B : Blincoe, Nicholas

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All Hail the New Puritans

All Hail the New Puritans begins with a ten-point manifesto. Part pastiche of modernist manifestos, part bullet-point mission statement, this manifesto claims to eschew inter alia voice, flashbacks, poetic licence and rhetoric in favour of plain, authentic, transparent testimonial prose.
Fortunately, the practice of the New Puritans is much more interesting and sophisticated than their theory. All set in the present, the stories dissect many aspects of contemporary life with verve, wit and sympathy. While ostensibly offering us faithful representations of the present, many of the stories have considerable satirical bite.
The entertainment/information economy and its possibilities and pitfalls are chronicled in Blincoe's "Short Guide to Game Theory"--a tale of schoolboy rivalry transposed into the conflict between a board-game developer and the aspirant designer of a game called SWING, the object of which is to create and market a pop group; the protagonist and narrator in Matthew Branton's "Monkey See" works as a techie tracing internet porn, who tries to spice up his sex-life with his much-loved wife by joining a swingers group. Tony White's "Poet" explores the possibilities (emotional, economic and formal) of using Excel to write sonnets in a moving meditation on being a writer in a digital age. --Neville Hoad
All Hail the New Puritans

All Hail the New Puritans begins with a ten-point manifesto. Part pastiche of modernist manifestos, part bullet-point mission statement, this manifesto claims to eschew inter alia voice, flashbacks, poetic licence and rhetoric in favour of plain, authentic, transparent testimonial prose.
Fortunately, the practice of the New Puritans is much more interesting and sophisticated than their theory. All set in the present, the stories dissect many aspects of contemporary life with verve, wit and sympathy. While ostensibly offering us faithful representations of the present, many of the stories have considerable satirical bite.
The entertainment/information economy and its possibilities and pitfalls are chronicled in Blincoe's "Short Guide to Game Theory"--a tale of schoolboy rivalry transposed into the conflict between a board-game developer and the aspirant designer of a game called SWING, the object of which is to create and market a pop group; the protagonist and narrator in Matthew Branton's "Monkey See" works as a techie tracing internet porn, who tries to spice up his sex-life with his much-loved wife by joining a swingers group. Tony White's "Poet" explores the possibilities (emotional, economic and formal) of using Excel to write sonnets in a moving meditation on being a writer in a digital age. --Neville Hoad
Manchester Slingback

Nicholas Blincoe
A Book of Wonder
Manchester Slingback.

Nicholas Blincoe
Manchester Slingback

Nicholas Blincoe
White Mice

Nicholas Blincoe

The narrator of White Mice, Jamie Greenhalgh, is an ordinary student sitting in an Arabic café near a Paris youth hostel. In one moment, a phone call from his older sister Louise, a model, propels him into the entourage of the couturier Gianni Osano. Osano is ageing, losing his touch, drinking too much. Louise and the other models swing from euphoria to despair, driven by a cocktail of cocaine, heroin and nicotine. Gianni's new partner is a sinister sub-Mafioso whose ideas for improving the Osano finances involve the theft of his Paris collection and an insurance scam. As the circus travels from Paris to Milan and then back again, Jamie is drawn ever further into circumstances and relationships that he cannot control. Blincoe's earlier novels refused to be defined by the rules of the genre (crime fiction) into which they seemed to fall. There is a similar ambivalence in White Mice. Like Jamie, Blincoe is both dazzled by the glamour of the fashion world and fascinated by the realities behind the façade. His novel is definitely not satire yet nor is it celebration. It has many of the elements of a thriller yet, for long stretches, Blincoe is more interested in character and relationships than in driving his plot forward. Like the industry amid which it is set, White Mice is glitzy, contradictory and self-consciously obsessed with style and attitude. --Nick Rennison
The Dope Priest

Nicholas Blincoe

As an international dope smuggler, David Ramsbottom is used to an eventful existence. We join him on the day of his wedding to debutante Annabella Babbage--chain-smoking reefers in a bid to forget his two tons of hashish trapped in Beirut, and the police cars encircling the church.
Fifteen years later, broke, world-weary and irredeemably dependent on weed, David rejoins his old smuggling partner, Tony Khouri, in Israel, on the promise of easy cash to be made from an illegal land deal. But, as David should have learnt, nothing in his life comes easy. Shadowy Mossad agents, murderous Russians, fanatical nuns and egg smugglers are strewn across his path, while David yearns for just one smoke to make sense of it all. When that smoke comes, he is catapulted into an apocalyptic end-game, where his own survival hangs in the balance.
Set against the chaotic backdrop of the late 90s Holy Land, The Dope Priest is an uncanny mix of humour and tension. It combines the relentless pace of the best thrillers with the jaded eye of a pot-smoking William Boyd. It is possible to have reservations over such a cocktail: sometimes the political detail, though thoroughly researched, is a little heavy. And the love interest never quite produces the goods--because the plot allows little opportunity for its characters to grow on us. That said, Blincoe has tackled an unfamiliar subject with enviable ease, and produced a gripping tale. Reading while under the influence is not advised. --Matthew Baylis
My Mother Was a Bank Robber and Other Stories (Revolver S.)

Nicholas Blincoe
Acid Casuals (Mask Noir)

Nicholas Blincoe
Peace Under Fire: Israel, Palestine and the International Solidarity Movement
Noches de Acido

Nicholas Blincoe
White Mice

Nicholas Blincoe

The narrator of White Mice, Jamie Greenhalgh, is an ordinary student sitting in an Arabic café near a Paris youth hostel. In one moment, a phone call from his older sister Louise, a model, propels him into the entourage of the couturier Gianni Osano. Osano is ageing, losing his touch, drinking too much. Louise and the other models swing from euphoria to despair, driven by a cocktail of cocaine, heroin and nicotine. Gianni's new partner is a sinister sub-Mafioso whose ideas for improving the Osano finances involve the theft of his Paris collection and an insurance scam. As the circus travels from Paris to Milan and then back again, Jamie is drawn ever further into circumstances and relationships that he cannot control. Blincoe's earlier novels refused to be defined by the rules of the genre (crime fiction) into which they seemed to fall. There is a similar ambivalence in White Mice. Like Jamie, Blincoe is both dazzled by the glamour of the fashion world and fascinated by the realities behind the façade. His novel is definitely not satire yet nor is it celebration. It has many of the elements of a thriller yet, for long stretches, Blincoe is more interested in character and relationships than in driving his plot forward. Like the industry amid which it is set, White Mice is glitzy, contradictory and self-consciously obsessed with style and attitude. --Nick Rennison
Blind für die Geschichte?

Nicholas Blincoe
Burning Paris

Nicholas Blincoe
Peace Under Fire: Israel, Palestine and the International Solidarity Movement
Acid Casuals (Five Star Paperback)

Nicholas Blincoe
Burning Paris

Nicholas Blincoe
Nouveaux Puritains

Nicolas Matt / Blincoe Thorne, Nicholas Blincoe
The Dope Priest

Nicholas Blincoe

As an international dope smuggler, David Ramsbottom is used to an eventful existence. We join him on the day of his wedding to debutante Annabella Babbage--chain-smoking reefers in a bid to forget his two tons of hashish trapped in Beirut, and the police cars encircling the church.
Fifteen years later, broke, world-weary and irredeemably dependent on weed, David rejoins his old smuggling partner, Tony Khouri, in Israel, on the promise of easy cash to be made from an illegal land deal. But, as David should have learnt, nothing in his life comes easy. Shadowy Mossad agents, murderous Russians, fanatical nuns and egg smugglers are strewn across his path, while David yearns for just one smoke to make sense of it all. When that smoke comes, he is catapulted into an apocalyptic end-game, where his own survival hangs in the balance.
Set against the chaotic backdrop of the late 90s Holy Land, The Dope Priest is an uncanny mix of humour and tension. It combines the relentless pace of the best thrillers with the jaded eye of a pot-smoking William Boyd. It is possible to have reservations over such a cocktail: sometimes the political detail, though thoroughly researched, is a little heavy. And the love interest never quite produces the goods--because the plot allows little opportunity for its characters to grow on us. That said, Blincoe has tackled an unfamiliar subject with enviable ease, and produced a gripping tale. Reading while under the influence is not advised. --Matthew Baylis