Lovesongs to the Auld Enemy - Essays on England by Scottish Writers
Introduction by David Greig, the acclaimed playwright
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Edited by David Greig and with an entertaining discussion by a selection Scottish playwrights, novelists, academics, poets and pop singers on why the Scots sometimes enthusiatically, sometimes grudgingly admire certain aspects of English culture despite protestations to the contrary. Topics include Milton, Mike Leigh, PG Wodehouse, English landscapes, English Romantic Music, The Decline of the English Sex Scandal and An English Education by authors including Willy Maley, Linda McLean, Laura Hird, Michael Russell, Gordon McIntyre, Raja Shehadeh and Alan Wilkins.
"... An eclectic sequence of topics about which the authors might wax lyrical over a few glasses of wine ... These are pieces that say a good deal about the passions to which the writers return in private moments and the experiences that formed them. Laura Hird recalls watching Mike Leigh's TV play Abigail's Party and realising that the "cringe-a-minute tale of a suburban cocktail party" might well have been set in Wester Hailes. Greig himself ferrets out the English predilection for all kinds of interesting sex so long as it's kept under wraps. Linda McLean, in a gently reflective essay that taps into some of her earliest memories, begins on the South Downs and ends up in the Sinai desert, just avoiding being sold to an enthusiastic Bedouin for 10 camels ..."
Laurence Waring, The Herald
| Title | Price | ISBN | Availability | |
| Lovesongs to the Auld Enemy - Essays on England by Scottish Writers | £6.99 | 9780954962555 | 9 August 2007 | |
