Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club

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Robin Ince's Bad Book Club published by Sphere

There’s something quite brilliant about browsing in charity shops. That time when your heart races when you see a brand new pair of Converse in your size for only 50p. The excitement when you see that  DVD Box Set you’ve been looking for for ages and its only £2. That brand new Ferarri a steal at £10 (note: this last example may be a complete lie). What’s more, all the money is going to a good cause so not only have you got a bargain so you can walk away with a sense of pride (just don’t start getting too smug about it, OK?)

But the best thing about charity shops are the books. Rifle past the endless copies of Bridget Jones’ Diary, Olivia Joules And The Overactive Imagination and White Teeth (if you think I’m lying, go to your local charity shops and I’ll bet you that you’ll pick up all three within ten minutes of looking) and there’s a veritable bounty of literature on offer. But whilst it’s great to find classic novels, beautiful poetry and amazing contemporary fiction there’s a real joy in finding those books that, well, were never meant to make it to the bestseller lists. Even wanted to read Don Estelle’s autobiography Sing Lofty: Thoughts of a Gemini? Had a hankering to enjoy Guy N Smith’s The Night of The Crabs? If you haven’t, then Robin Ince may be just the man to change your mind.

Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club sees the comedian trawl charity shops up and down the country looking for some fine examples of books that won’t be troubling those who run the Booker Prize. Sorted into subject sections such as ‘Sex’, ‘Poetry’ and ‘Self Help’ , Ince has found some truly jaw-dropping examples of bad books. Particular favourites include Starlust a compilation of people’s sex fantasies concerning 80s popstars. Sordid acts involving Barry Manilow, Boy George and Haircut 100 make sure that the reader would never able to watch VH-1 again without scrubbing their eyes. A little less sordid are the Mills and Boons stories that Ince also analyses thoroughly and finds that the words ’thrusting’, ‘glistening’ and ‘rippling’ are used with almost reckless abandon. The Columnist section has some particular bile for the hateful, hateful Ann Coulter (I once read her “book” Slander just so I could say that I had actually read her right-wing ramblings – I was very pleased that I found it in a ‘Buy one get one free” offer from Scope as not only could I say I hadn’t paid a penny for the book but, even if I had, it would have gone to a good cause) whilst the horror section has some particular fun dissections of the fact that cats, rats and bats have all been used in an attempt to terrorise unsuspecting readers.

What’s great about the Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club is that, despite skewering some of the excesses and ridiculousness of the books mentioned, Ince writes with an obvious love for the medium and for those that – even though they haven’t been successful – have at least written a book. It’s also a lovely evocation of walking through myriad charity shops on a journey of discovery, where you can almost smell the cardigans and discarded jigsaw puzzles. Indeed, it’s ironic that Ince will appear in my home town of Morley with more bad books as memories of many years of traversing the charity shops (where prize finds include The Dark Knight Returns, a brand new copy of Charlie Brooker’s out-of-print TV Go Home and a long deleted collection of HP Lovecraft stories) were brought flooding back.

Never have bad books been so good.

Laurence Boyce is a journalist and regular contributor to The Culture Vulture and an ex-Morley lad. Frustrated by the fact people are holding a great event such as the Morley Literature Festival in his home town when he’s out of the country, he’s reviewing some of the books by some of the authors involved to show that books can truly be an international language

Robin Ince appears at Bertie’s Diner, Morley at 8pm on Wednesday 13th October as part of the Morley Literature Festival. Visit the website for tickets

Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club is published by Sphere is available now.

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