Faizad's Book Club

There’s a new Mike Gayle book on sale. It’s called Brand New Friend. Okay, it’s not really new because it was published back in September 2005 but it’s still the latest work from Gayle, who shot to fame with My Legendary Girlfriend (his first published book and one of my personal favorites). He’s British so expect a lot of British humor. Here’s a synopsis from the book’s cover:

Finding friends is hard to do...When thirty-two-year-old Rob Brooks's long term girlfriend asks him to leave London and live with her in Manchester not only will it mean moving cities and changing the only job he's ever had, it'll also mean leaving behind his best mate in the entire world, Phil Clarke. Believing in love conquering all Rob takes the plunge and convinced of his ability to make new friends Rob tries his best to sort out the situation. But when six months in he still finds himself without even so much as a regular drinking buddy he begins to realise that sometimes making friends in your thirties can be the hardest thing to do. With this is mind Rob begins a strategy that though risky has the potential to deliver the one thing he wants: a brand new friend. His strategy? Advertising in a classified ad in a Manchester magazine. After three excruciatingly embarrassing "bloke dates" Rob begins to despair. But then his luck changes. He finds himself a brand new friend. But there's a problem. Apart from knowing less than nothing about music trivia, football and supermodels vital statistics Rob's new friend has one huge flaw. She's a girl.

Yes, your new best mate is a girl. It’s every man’s dream and also nightmare. It’s exciting and yet disturbing. It’s the idea that we men are not willing to explore but we do love to linger upon the subject. One of the most subdued and interesting topics of ‘What if?’ in the world of men. So, when a writer like Mike Gayle came up with a whole book detailing all the possibilities, it certainly does pose a fascinating intrigue. So, if you’re a man looking to do something different with your mind in between those testosterone fuelled activities, pick this one up. You’ll enjoy it. And if you have a woman, better still, because she will be impressed. She will see that behind that manly beast, who’s always raving about sex, is a sensitive and sophisticated human being. That should get her into bed rather easily.

State of Fear by Michael Crichton. My favorite author and it’s shameful I have yet to have the chance to read it. What’s more annoying is I don’t know what it is about. All it says on the cover that Crichton will transport the reader from the glaciers of Iceland to the streets of Paris. One thought, however, points out that it has something to do with eugenics. A very terrifying topic indeed. How this issue is twisted in the Crichton way to make it seem plausible in our society today brings about a galvanization of enigma. Whether it will be turned into a full-length motion picture in the near future is still too early to tell. But to be fair, movies as of late based on Crichton’s novels has yet to do justice on his writing and imagination. They made him rich though. But mostly all the films turned out to be sordid ones. Namely Sphere, Congo and Timeline. The few exceptions are Jurassic Park, Disclosure and Rising Sun. Those movies are made with care. The later ones are rushed just to hang on to the excitement upon the release of the book. Just to point out, that’s the wrong way to do it. I have this feeling they would be working on Prey soon. It’s a story about killer nanites. Made and interesting read but I’m not sure it’ll amaze the crowd watching a silver screen. Let’s face it, there’s no roaring T-Rexes chasing you at 40 mph.

So if you’re into sci-fi thrillers which do not involve photon rays and the language of Klingon, then there’s no need to look any further. Pick this one up so you sound clever when you talk about all the latest technological breakthroughs, in par with Mr. Crichton.