When R.J. Ellory announces that he won’t be reading from his latest novel, ‘Saints Of New York’, but instead taking an hour of audience questions, there are raised eyebrows in the Peppers Theatre. A couple of people look round, as if to ascertain that the audience will stretch to sixty minutes’ questions. But then Ellory starts talking. And talking, and talking. Thirty-five minutes in, he hasn’t answered a single question, instead offering the audience a detailed autobiography. He spins a good yarn, despite the odd jarring comment (on 9/11: “I knew two things straight away: the first was that it was an inside job”), and when he finally does get round to taking questions, his answers are insightful and candid.
Peppers Theatre, 14 Aug, 6.45pm (7.45pm), £8.00 – £10.00, bfpp10.
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Sections: by Ellie Blow - ED2011 Book Reviews | Tags: Edinburgh International Book Festival
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