Product Description

FEEDING FRENZY, Will Self's third collection of journalism and selected writings takes us through the turbulent years 1995-2000. During this period Self surfed the great wave of olive oil which nearly swept British metropolitan culture away, and produced a series of restaurant reviews for The Observer, whose coruscating criticality led to a cabal of restaurateurs plotting his contract killing. In essays to accompany the work of admired artists such as Marc Quinn, feature articles on rock music and remote places, reviews of cultural phenomena as diverse as voyeuristic television and the Queen Mother, Self has produced what can only be described as a cachinnating cacophony of wilful provocation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #931846 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Review
Will Self's collection of journalism and selected writings has all the usual caustic edge and bitter wit that is his stock in trade. Feeding Frenzy is a collection that takes us through the turbulent years 1995 to 2000. Self's observations on the changing face of British culture even includes his series of restaurant reviews for The Observer, which had several restaurateurs eager for his abrupt exit from this life. But the subjects here are satisfyingly varied: from the Queen Mother through voyeuristic victim TV to the excesses of the rock music business (over which Self casts a singularly cold eye). A fascinating collection, guaranteed to tread on all the usual toes.

About the Author
Will Self is the author of three short story collections, THE QUANTITY THEORY OF INSANITY, GREY AREA, and TOUGH TOUGH TOYS FOR TOUGH TOUGH BOYS; the novellas COCK AND BULL and a third novella THE SWEET SMELL OF PSYCHOSIS; and three novels MY IDEA OF FUN, GREAT APES and HOW THE DEAD LIVE. There have been two collections of journalism JUNK MAIL and SORE SITES and a collaboration with photographer David Gamble called PERFIDIOUS MAN.

Customer Reviews

Regurgitation better than his fiction...
Though I have never been able to get into Will Self's fiction which I always experience as somewhat laboured, I found this collection of previously published magazine and newspaper essays, restaurant reviews and short features instant, engaging, thoughtful and provoking, insightful, often laugh out loud funny, subversive and full of humanity. From a review of an English Country Garden restaurant experienced on acid to Self interviewing JG Ballard via an essay on The Westway, if that sounds good to you, give it a go.

An entertaining, if somewhat eclectic collection.
Feeding Frenzy is an eclectic collection of Will Self's journalism and written thought about things British between 1995 and 2001. The collection is acerbic and well written and mostly features newspaper and magazine articles for a wide range of publications including The Times, Evening Standard, Elle and Granta. There are also a few book and film reviews thrown in for good measure, alongside some art critique. The often-fragmented medley of, but well-written articles within the collection provide a unique “take” (for want of a better expression) on Britain between 1995-2000, although there are some glaring omissions.

Throughout the book the subject of food and restaurants is constantly returned to, providing some gel in the otherwise cohesion less selection of articles. Will Self’s quirky style regularly leads him to focus on matters other than the food, often providing the most entertaining sections in the book – although probably not particularly useful if you were hoping for some insight into the restaurant.

In Summary: a unique, entertaining read that I found was better to dip into rather than read in one go. Great for the tube!

A work of scintillating genius
Effortlessly blending highbrow and left-wing, Will Self represents the pinnacle of intelligent and entertaining writing. His use of language is impeccable, and the appeal of this, his second collection of journalism, has an appeal that transcends the philosophical and the nihilistic. These 'off-duty' clippings give the reader a fascinating opportunity to glimpse the man behind the artist, not that you'd see any great revelations about an illicitly lowbrow hack.