Good craic, No Alibis
How plugged-in are David Torrans and his Belfast house of books, No Alibis?
I learned from Torrans this afternoon that Philadelphia's own Duane Swierczynski, who had an actress friend read for him at Philadelphia's first Noir at the Bar reading in June, could probably be persuaded to do the job himself if offered enough beer.
"What kind of beer does he like?" I asked.
"Anything," Torrans said.
Now, I don't know Swierczynski's drinking habits, but I am impressed that Torrans was conversant enough with crime fiction and the people who write it that he could even feel comfortable discussing such matters. (Torrans had a copy of Swierczynski's novel The Wheelman on a shelf of signed books in case you wonder how the subject came up.)
So, how plugged-in is Torrans? "He knows guys that haven't even written yet," said a customer whom Torrans pointed in my direction.
That same customer, "A Tyrone man," gave a rousing big-up to Declan Burke's The Big O, a copy of which he was buying for a friend and whose dialogue he loved, especially that between its male and its female characters, with a special hosannah for co-protagonist Karen: "This is the way real men and women talk over breakfast," he said.
© Peter Rozovsky 2008
I learned from Torrans this afternoon that Philadelphia's own Duane Swierczynski, who had an actress friend read for him at Philadelphia's first Noir at the Bar reading in June, could probably be persuaded to do the job himself if offered enough beer.
"What kind of beer does he like?" I asked.
"Anything," Torrans said.
Now, I don't know Swierczynski's drinking habits, but I am impressed that Torrans was conversant enough with crime fiction and the people who write it that he could even feel comfortable discussing such matters. (Torrans had a copy of Swierczynski's novel The Wheelman on a shelf of signed books in case you wonder how the subject came up.)
So, how plugged-in is Torrans? "He knows guys that haven't even written yet," said a customer whom Torrans pointed in my direction.
That same customer, "A Tyrone man," gave a rousing big-up to Declan Burke's The Big O, a copy of which he was buying for a friend and whose dialogue he loved, especially that between its male and its female characters, with a special hosannah for co-protagonist Karen: "This is the way real men and women talk over breakfast," he said.
© Peter Rozovsky 2008
Labels: Belfast, bookstores, Declan Burke, Duane Swierczynski, images, independent bookstores, No Alibis, Northern Ireland, what I did on my vacation
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 4:51 PM
6 Comments:
Mr Torrans has been to known to imbibe a little himself from time to time.
Can feel your exaltation, both during your literary journey and exposure to the beauty of Ireland! You'll be posting in their native tongue before you know it. It's contagious!
From what I could tell, Adrian, the man deserves it. He works hard.
Yeah, PM, this trip is all right. My Gaelic vocabulary is up to about three words now, and my book acquisitions are approaching twenty. I may have to jettison some clothes if I want to fit all the reading matter in my luggage.
Congratulations! I was checking out all the nominees for the Book Blogger Appreciation Awards and trying to live up to my nomination by inviting everyone over to Semicolon tomorrow for the Saturday Review of Books. It's just a place I provide each Saturday to leave links to your book reviews for the week, and you're certainly invited to contribute and to enjoy the reviews by other book bloggers.
Thanks. I had just found that piece of good news myself.
I'm on vacation now so spending less time at the computer than usual, but I will try to look in on the Saturday Review. If not this week, then I'll drop in some future week. Thanks for letting me know about it.
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