I first met Alan Warner over a lunch of haggis in Edinburgh. I was previously enamored with his novel, Morvern Callar, which follows the story of a young Scottish woman who has to make some difficult choices after she finds her boyfriend dead in their shared apartment.
Morvern Callar also comes with a soundtrack. Not literally, but throughout the book are snapshots of mix tapes from Morvern’s dead boyfriend and the music of the krautrock band Can is heavily featured. Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) directed the film version of Morvern Callar staring Samantha Morton. The music of Can and front man Holger Czukay dominates the soundtrack.
Alan’s novels have won countless awards. His close connection to the music and how it relates to his fictional characters makes him the perfect person to write about Can’s most influential album, Tago Mago, not to mention the fact that he formed a somewhat close relationship with the surviving members of Can and has spent some time gallivanting across Europe with them.
Publication date is unconfirmed at this point but look for further announcements on this blog.
This is interesting … it’s the second book about an album (Remain in Light was the first) which wasn’t chosen from the public’s submissions.
I don’t have a problem with Bloomsbury adding in books, but a brief note as to why these were chosen outside the norm would be interesting, if not useful.
Thanks,
John