THE BIG ISSUE The Big Issue - 11 January 2016 | Page 31

REVIEWS
WorldMags.net
5 ESSENTIAL
BOOKS FOR
GAMERS
MICHAEL
W CLUNE
2. ARMOR John Steakley
I defy anyone to read the
incredible opening sequence
– pitting a man in a massive
armoured, jet-equipped suit
against insane odds – and
not be seduced by the mad,
violent poetry of Steakley’s
prose, in this sci-fi novel.
3. MASTERS OF DOOM
David Kushner
This is the story of the genesis
of perhaps the most important
PC game of all time – Doom.
Goofy, joyous and even a
little tragic, Kushner brilliantly
captures the mix of dreams,
manic energy and teenage
alienation that brought PC
gaming to the big time.
4. PERSUASIVE GAMES:
THE EXPRESSIVE POWER
OF VIDEOGAMES
Ian Bogost
Bogost is a serious, innovative
thinker investigating how
games function as subtle and
effective persuaders. If games
are to have an impact on the
social and economic struct ures
that are slowly strangling
us, this book’s vision of the
untapped rhetorical power
of gaming is our best bet.
5. BEYOND
GOOD AND EVIL
Fredrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche didn’t game but he
might have acknowledged that
games, at their best, release
people into Dionysian spirals
of restless transcendence.
Michael Clune’s Gamelife:
Memoir of a Childhood
is out now (Text, £12.99)
Dead to rights
O
ne of the good things
about the publish-
ing industry is that
there’s always the
possibility of giving a second
lease of life to older, previously
forgotten books. It so happens
that two such novels are
published this week, and both
definitely deserve a second
chance in the spotlight.
First up we have Cut Me In.
Ed McBain is now regarded as
one of the masters of American
noir, alongside more estab-
lished names like Raymond
Cha nd ler a nd Da sh iel l
Hammett, but this early novel
was originally published under
a pseudonym in the 1950s and
has been out of print ever since.
It’s great to have it back, as
it demonstrates many of
McBain’s literary skills, though
it was written in the early
part of his career before he
established himself as a writer.
The story is told by Josh
Blake, a literary agent who
discovers his partner shot dead
in his office one morning.
A quick search reveals that a
lucrative contract for television
rights to a series of Western
books is missing, and so the
wheels are set in motion. Blake
stumbles through confront-
ations with seductive women,
sarcastic cops, slimy industry
suits and potential killers.
It’s all great fun, and
McBain’s ear for dialogue is
terrific, plus his prose style is
clean and clear, full of character
and charm. The plotting also
shows real skill, with red her-
rings and revelations dropped
expertly into place – and the
cat-and-mouse stuf between
Blake and the deadpan detec-
tive investigating the murder
sizzles on the page. It might’ve
been out of print for 60 years
but Cut Me In feels as fresh as
if it were written yesterday.
Very different in tone is
another forgotten cult classic,
in the shape of Chester Himes’
If He Hollers Let Him Go.
Originally published in 1945,
1. EXTRA LIVES
Tom Bissell
Bissell’s classic book is among
the first to take gaming
seriously – both as an art and a
lifestyle. The pages about the
fundamental tensions between
narrative and interactivity in
games are essential reading.
CUT ME IN / IF HE HOLLERS LET HIM GO
it’s a howling rage of a novel –
a book that brutally exposes the
racism at the heart of American
society at the time. And its
questions about race remain
alarmingly pertinent today.
The story revolves around
Robert Jones, a black crew
leader in a Los Angeles naval
shipyard during the war, and
spans four days of his life.
Before he even gets into work
on the first day, Jones is getting
hassle – and when he says at the
end of chapter two that “the
white folks had sure brought
their white to work with them
that morning”, it sets the tone
for the rest of the book. Jones
revels in violent fantasies,
Cut Me In
Ed McBain, paperback
Hard Case Crime, £7.99, out Jan 15
If He Hollers Let Him Go
Chester Himes, paperback
Serpent’s Tail, £8.99, out Jan 14
THE BIG ISSUE / p31 / January 11-17 2016
WorldMags.net
imagining himself fighting,
killing or raping the white
people who are subjecting him
to abuse – but he never acts on
those fantasies.
Nevertheless, his life spirals
out of control over those four
days, and the book turns out
to be an uncomfortable and
challenging read.
The novel is being published
as part of Serpent’s Tail’s
Classics imprint, and this
edition comes with a great
introduction by Jake Arnott,
which really sets the book in
context. It was Himes’ debut
novel, before he made his name
with his more commercial
Harlem detective series.
This edition also comes
with an essay by the author,
calling for a race revolution
with communist intention.
It’s uncompromising but
that surely makes it all the more
important that it’s back in
print. Both Serpent’s Tail and
Hard Case Crime are to be
commended for bringing
these books to light.
@doug_johnstone