Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design from Laurence King Publishing on Vimeo.

Short film about the new Saul Bass book from Laurence King Press. You don’t get to see much of the book, but what you do see looks amazing, as do the spreads from it at the bottom of the info page.

Not as entertaining as the viral video for James Frey’s The Final Testament Of The Holy Bible, but I’d say more compelling. The viral made me chuckle. This actually makes me want to read it.

I am a fan of James Frey’s writing. I am a fan of viral marketing. So it makes sense that I would like and blog about this viral video for James Frey’s new novel, The Final Testament Of The Holy Bible. But before we all get too excited about the fact that my posting of this viral video is proof positive of the effectiveness of viral marketing, I should point out that despite the ad’s genius, I only actually know the book is out – and hence why I googled it and found this superb piece of viral marketing gold – because my girlfriend read a piece about it in last week’s issue of Grazia Magazine.

Just re-read Len Deighton’s The Ipcress File. Almost as good as this picture of him teaching Sir Michael Caine to cook on the set of the film version. What’s surprising is that I read the book a couple of years ago and hated it. Thought it was dull, confused and nowhere near as good as the film. Admittedly the film is one of my all-time favourites, so it was always going to struggle. Re-reading it, the plot isn’t quite as refined and smart as the movie, which is substantially different, but the writing is stunning. Sharp, clever and very fun, I can’t recommend it enough. Don’t know what I was on the first time.

I know lots of people have decided that now that they’re older, wiser and less angry with the world they’re over Brett Easton Ellis, and that his books, particularly his debut Less Than Zero and the callously excessive American Psycho , are just nasty, bitter and full of the kind of dead-eyed loathing that the world doesn’t need right now. But I’m not one of them. I think he does what he does exceptionally well, and that in a digital age his cold, detached cruelty is perhaps more resonant than ever. Just saying.

I’m a big fan of Chuck ‘Fight Club’ Palahniuk‘s writing. I’m an even bigger fan of his warped world view. And I’m an even bigger fan of the way he’s created this whole cult movement around the first two. I would love to go to one of Chuck’s readings, but until he makes it to London I’ll have to make do with the film above.

Elmore Leonard knows so much about writing he could write a book about it... or at least a list.

I never wanted to be one of those writers who ends up writing endlessly about writing but never seems to do any actual writing. Then again I never wanted to be one of those writers who spent hours on the internet reading other writers’ writing about writing instead of actually doing any writing, but I do a hell of a lot of that and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t found it a most enjoyable and educational way to avoid writing. So, by way of a compromise, here are some links to some brilliant writers talking about their brilliant writing.

Inspired by Elmore Leonard’s now legendary ’10 Rules Of Writing’, The Guardian ran a two part feature where the likes of Margaret Atwood, Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, Philip Pullman, Ian Rankin, Will Self, Sarah Waters and Zadie Smith divulge the 10 rules which either make them the writer they are or stop them wanting to self-harm. Some tips are more technical than others, but all are informative, entertaining and worth reading. My particular favourites are Richard Ford’s: “Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a good idea” and Roddy Doyle’s very wise opener: “Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.”

The Guardian’s Ten Rules For Writing Fiction Part 1

The Guardian’s Ten Rules For Writing Fiction Part 2

There is a better life. And it looks a little something like this. A thought to conjure with on a cold, snowy/icy/slushy night in London in January. For more of the same, see my new favourite oversized coffee table book Poolside With Slim Aarons. Genius.

Nick Cave has a new novel, The Death Of Bunny Munro. He also has a very good website to go with it. Simple but effective, I especially like the video clips of him reading extracts and the limited edition idea – one already used extensively by HarperCollins’s innovative indie style imprint The Friday Project – is genius, not least because if they sell all 500 copies, and at the time of writing there are only 91 left, they stand to turn over £50,000. That’s a pretty smart way of making hardbacks profitable. The book will also, apparently, be available as an iPhone app, which I may well get just to see what it’s like.