Eoin McNamee further revealed

I was just a teensy weensy bit surprised that McNamee’s THE ULTRAS didn’t get the review coverage that other, less worthy books, did–but no matter, since the lads at Bookmunch tracked my favorite writer down and ask him a few questions or two about the new book, blending fiction and reality, and some other faves of mine:

PW: As with David Peace (a writer who claims you are one of the few fiction writers worth reading), you attempt to fuse real life events, political drama and fiction. Have you ever been tempted to write something wholly nonfiction?

EM: The understanding of what is fiction and what isn’t has become more fraught and murky as I’ve written these books. One thing that has struck me is that perhaps the traditional novel which purports to be wholly fictional is really the stranger form compared to what I’m doing.

PW: I mentioned David Peace. In many ways, he takes no prisoners (at least as far as his readers are concerned) but you at least do make some concessions to the reader. What would your ideal reader be?

EM: A friend of mine walked into a bookshop in Los Angeles and bought a book-a hardbitten modern novel of some kind – and brought it to the till to pay for it. The bookseller looked at the book, set it aside and produced a copy of Resurrection Man from under the counter. ‘Here’ he says, ‘try the real thing.’ That’s my ideal reader and my ideal context.

And if, for some reason, the books he writes under his own name are too high-falutin’ for some of you, check out the Jack Valentine novels he writes using the pseudonym John Creed. Entertainments, yes, but smart and paced like an express train.

I shall cease the literary drooling forthwith. Really.