Ned Beauman / Books / Untitled Books

Ned Beauman's debut novel, Boxer Beetle, has been short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. He shares the books currently on his mind…

Ned Beauman

What's currently on your bedside table?

The Way Some People Die by Ross MacDonald, an author who isn't nearly as well known as Hammett or Chandler but is among the finest of the first wave of hard-boiled detective novelists. And American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, because there's a serial murderer in my next book and I want to see how other people have handled that; Ellis has inspired more dreadful writing than anyone since Kerouac, but it's not really his fault, since his own books are tolerably entertaining.

Which book/s would you recommend this winter?

In normal circumstances, absolutely nothing would compel me to pick up a 567-page novel whose back cover promises "An ultra-secret MI6 codename; a deadly game of deception and intrigue; dark forces from the depths of history", but Tim Powers' Declare turned out to be one of the most exhilarating books I've read in years. (Unfortunately no one has heard of him in this country.) Most of it's set in London, Berlin, Moscow, Mount Ararat and various other cold places, so it's appropriate to the season.

Which book/s are you taking with you on your next journey?

The Production of Space by Henri Lefebvre, which is leftist critical theory from the 1970s. It's interesting, but it's also very hard work, so generally I have to be trapped on a train or a plane to get anywhere with it.

Thursday, 25 November, 2010