Ö÷²¥´óÐã

Should we publish work that was never intended for public consumption? With the benefit of hindsight even Kerouac might agree that it was looks like a work in progress, to be refined over the years. It's a brief novel, but if you do buy it you get some lovely bonus material thrown in for good measure.There are chapters of information about Kerouac and his inspirations for aficionados to po re over. Maybe we should leave our literary heroes as they were.. basking in the critical acclaim that their best work afforded them. After all, who in their right mind wants to see their earliest attempts trotted out for public derision? I should know... somewhere, lurking in a basement in the Ö÷²¥´óÐã, lies a cache of old tv tapes dating back to the mid 80's. A certain young presenter called English was given a go at presenting an Arts show. She now presents radio. I think the facts speak for themselves!

's on to her fourth novel (A contender for the , no less) so her pen is well practised in the art of writing. Her latest book is about a star-crossed romance during the years of the first World War. MY DEAR, I WANTED TO TELL YOU is the title: an ominous line taken from a form that was to be filled in and deleted as appropriate, should a soldier get injured in combat. Young's eye for history is wonderful. She pitches us into the ghastliness and terror of trench warfare with Riley her protagonist, a working class lad with aspirations to better himself. He's in love with a rich boho beauty called Nadine, who's family are keen the friendship doesn't develop. The book doesn't just deal with war and romance; its about class, expectations, gender divides and plastic surgery. I was surprised to learn that pioneering reconstructive surgery was being carried out in the earliest years of the 20th century. Riley goes under the knife after he is badly maimed at the Front. Another character from the novel, a stunningly attractive wife called Julia, opts for surgery to improve on nature. She's defined by her beauty. The level of detail Young goes into in the book is fascinating. She referred to a text book dating back to the 20s where the most extraordinary procedures were set out in all their graphic glory.A history book, with love, class and plastic surgery. That's what I call a comprehensively good read.

Tuesday's Culture Café got the team thinking about exploration and travel off the back of a Ö÷²¥´óÐã Scotland series on the subject. We wanted an artistic take on things.. you know, a sort of contemporary comparison with artists past who took the Grand Tour? David Martin and photographer Mark Gillet joined me for that. David struck out for Cairo after landing an RSA scholarship of ten K. (Just as well he wasn't doing it today, given the turmoil in that city now.) When he arrived, he was instantly smitten; he walked about for days soaking up the atmosphere before putting his hand near a sketch pad. Similarily Mark was seduced from the get go in Abu Dhabi. He never went out without a camera and found an embarrassment of riches to point his lens at, especially the people.

Travel broadens the mind and stretches the creative cells. But it also used to be quite glamorous. Think back to the golden days of air travel in the 60s. Now you don't have to imagine what it was like because a new American drama started on tv last week. PAN AM is all about the era of the trolly dolly, the perfect specimen, coiffed and kitted out like a Barbie doll. The pilots looked like Ken. We are in the grip of nostalgia again.. Mad Men arguably started it, and The Hour continued the theme but, on the evidence of its first outing, PAN AM seems to be a messy and unconvincing hybrid. The women look lovely.. but similar. The men look lovely...but similar. There are plenty of clichés to clamber over too with the rich girl who runs away from home, feisty proto feminist Maggi who resists the urge to collar a gropey male passenger. And then there's the Hattie Jaques element, that ultra bossy Matron figure who spot checks the girls uniforms and figures before they are permitted to board their flights. Girdle checks were de rigeur. Like Mad Men and The Hour, there is some flagrant sexism on display but it feels as if there's no particular comment being made on it. Its all fluffy candy coloured fun and hey, that's the way things were for a working girl in the 60s. The only suprising element for me was the bizarre espionage sub plot. Of course! An air hostess is the perfect spy, able to eavesdrop on conversations with dodgy Russians, lurking in the cabin,ready to pounce on a passport or stick something back into an attaché case without spilling a vodka martini. Today's "trolly dollies" have their work cut out for them.Try filching your way through a grumpy, overstressed passenger's pockets these days on any budget airline and within seconds you'll find yourself under a hundred weight of irate passenger flesh bent on vengeance. A big, bright PAN AM sized smile wont get you far if you're sporting today's uniform- a lurid coloured shell suit with the sex appeal of a sleeping bag.

A final thought - stuffed animals. (Best non sequitor so far in my blogging career?) They could be back from the brink of extinction (for a second time?) Taxidermy is becoming v popular with artists and some celebs like Kate Moss and Sharleen Spitteri are adding animals that have "ceased to be", to their private collections. We invited Andrew Kitchener from the National Museums of Scotland to talk about that along with artist and lecturer, Andrea Roe. She's worked with blackbirds and wrens, and although Andrew himself wasn't a taxidermist, he's working in conjunction with the taxidermy team at the National Museum. As the interview drew to a close Andrew made a confession; he was having trouble with the concept of the stuffed animal as ART. Fair enough. Personally, I won't be rushing to order a stuffed llama any time soon. You have to build up to that... something smaller might get me started. Suggestions welcome!