Death of a Ladies' Man (novel)

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Death of a Ladies' Man
Deathofaladiesmanbissett.jpg
Author Alan Bissett
Cover artist Chris Hannah
Country Scotland
Language English
Genre Novel
Publisher Hachette Scotland
Publication date
 23 July 2009
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 426
ISBN 978-0-7553-1942-8

Death of a Ladies' Man is the third novel by Scottish writer Alan Bissett, released on 23 July 2009. Set within the city of Glasgow, the novel follows divorcee teacher Charlie Bain's journey into hedonism and sex addiction. Bissett describes Death of a Ladies' Man as "a cautionary tale for women written by a man who is trying to say: 'Look, this is why we are the way we are. Understand but do not forgive." [1]

Novel in Scotland

The novel in Scotland includes all long prose fiction published in Scotland and by Scottish authors since the development of the literary format in the eighteenth century. The novel was soon a major element of Scottish literary and critical life. Tobias Smollett's picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle mean that he is often seen as Scotland's first novelist. Other Scots who contributed to the development of the novel in the eighteenth century include Henry Mackenzie and John Moore.

Alan Bissett is an author and playwright from Hallglen, an area of Falkirk in Scotland. After the publication of his first two novels, Boyracers and The Incredible Adam Spark, he became known for his different take on Scots dialect writing, evolving a style specific to Falkirk, suffused with popular culture references and socialist politics. He also applied to be rector of Glasgow University in 2014.

Glasgow City and council area in Scotland

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, and the third most populous city in the United Kingdom, as of the 2017 estimated city population of 621,020. Historically part of Lanarkshire, the city now forms the Glasgow City council area, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland; the local authority is Glasgow City Council. Glasgow is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as "Glaswegians" or "Weegies". It is the fourth most visited city in the UK. Glasgow is also known for the Glasgow patter, a distinct dialect of the Scots language that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city.

Contents

The novel shares its title with Leonard Cohen's 1977 album, Death of a Ladies' Man , and often includes quotes from Cohen preceding its chapters.

Leonard Cohen Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality and romantic relationships. Cohen was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize.

<i>Death of a Ladies Man</i> (album) 1977 studio album by Leonard Cohen

Death of a Ladies' Man is the fifth studio album by Leonard Cohen. Produced and co-written by Phil Spector, the voice of typically minimalist Cohen was surrounded by Spector's Wall of Sound, which included multiple tracks of instrument overdubs. The album was originally released by Warner Bros., but was later picked up by Cohen's long-time label, Columbia Records.

Themes

Death of a Ladies' Man largely focuses upon hedonism, ageing, lust, compromise and feminism.

Hedonism is a school of thought that argues that the pursuit of pleasure and intrinsic goods are the primary or most important goals of human life. A hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure. However upon finally gaining said pleasure, happiness may remain stationary.

Ageing or aging is the process of becoming older. The term refers especially to human beings, many animals, and fungi, whereas for example bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In the broader sense, ageing can refer to single cells within an organism which have ceased dividing or to the population of a species.

Lust Human emotion

Lust is a psychological force producing intense wanting or longing for an object, or circumstance fulfilling the emotion. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality, love, money or power. It can take such mundane forms as the lust for food as distinct from the need for food.

Regarding the recurring theme of feminism, Bissett noted, "You never write with a specific 'audience' in mind, but it does seem that women have reacted to the book more enthusiastically than men. I worried, when I was writing it, that women would accuse me of peddling adolescent, sexist fantasies. Actually, all of the flak has come from men. I think they feel a bit accused by it. I know a guy who said it 'traumatised' him! Women, on the other hand, totally get it, and feel it’s a book which is generally on their side. I’m happy at that result." [2] Bissett also noted, "Modern man is fucked up, modern men really are in a terrible state. I realised that to an even greater degree during the course of the book. I actually wonder whether feminism has had any impact on men at all in the last 30 or 40 years." [1]

Writing and Influences

According to Bissett, "the whole story of Death of a Ladies’ Man appeared in a blinding flash. But this turned out to be deceptive, as the first draft took about five months, while the redraft took three years!" [3]

Regarding its typography, Bissett noted, "I like the prose to have rhythm, style and energy. Boyracers was supposed to feel like pop music. Adam Spark was supposed to feel like the speech of a hyperactive child. Death of a Ladies’ Man was supposed to feel like being on cocaine. In all three I was going for flash and kinetics. I’ve never really been capable of writing prose that just sits there on the page, functionally telling the story." [3]

Typography art and the craft of printing and the arranging of layouts

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning). The term typography is also applied to the style, arrangement, and appearance of the letters, numbers, and symbols created by the process. Type design is a closely related craft, sometimes considered part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers. Typography also may be used as a decorative device, unrelated to communication of information.

<i>Boyracers</i> book by Alan Bissett

Boyracers is the debut novel of Scottish writer Alan Bissett. It was first published in 2001 by Edinburgh-based Polygon Books. The plot concerns four male teenagers growing up in the town of Falkirk, exploring the influences of popular culture, global capitalism and social class on the lives of young people in contemporary Scotland.

Cocaine chemical compound

Cocaine, also known as coke, is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. It is commonly snorted, inhaled as smoke, or dissolved and injected into a vein. Mental effects may include loss of contact with reality, an intense feeling of happiness, or agitation. Physical symptoms may include a fast heart rate, sweating, and large pupils. High doses can result in very high blood pressure or body temperature. Effects begin within seconds to minutes of use and last between five and ninety minutes. Cocaine has a small number of accepted medical uses such as numbing and decreasing bleeding during nasal surgery.

Charlie Bain

Regarding the construction of the novel's protagonist, Charlie Bain, Bissett noted, "I had to really look at the darkness. That was difficult. I stripped away far more layers of him than I initially thought were there (the absent father, the painful early divorce). I couldn't afford to write about this guy as if he was some moustache-twirling cad. I had to find the pain. [...] That's the tragic thing about him, the nobility is there, there are certain feminine values that should have led him in the right direction, but his cock takes over. We say that glibly all the time about men – their brains are in their trousers – that's what he needs to defeat and can't. He's trapped, sex becomes a numbers game to him, it becomes about engorging himself on women." [1]

Bissett has listed Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho as an influence on his writing, acknowledging the similarities between principal characters, Charlie Bain and Patrick Bateman: "American Psycho was an enormous influence on me. I think it’s a brave, visionary masterpiece that absolutely blew open the doors on what it was possible for fiction to do. And I can see the thematic connections: Charlie Bain and Patrick Bateman, to a certain extent, inhabit similar worlds on either side of the Atlantic." [4]

Seduction community

Whilst researching the novel, Bissett attended a party alongside Neil Strauss, author of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (2005), and other members of Glasgow's seduction community. Regarding this event, Bissett noted, "That idea that sincerity becomes impossible, that all you have is a series of masks and you say whatever needs to be said, you use whatever tactic is required in order to get the target relaxed. That was a really depressing thing for me to see. Male sexuality taken to its logical conclusion. If I was in any doubt that the book I was writing was worthwhile, its value was confirmed that night." [1]

Setting

The novel is set within the city of Glasgow, making references to a number of locations including, Ashton Lane, The 13th Note Café, ABC, Byres Road, Nice N' Sleazy's, and many others. Regarding the overall setting, Bissett noted, "Ladies’ Man is a Glasgow book. I did feel I had a big Glaswegian beast seething around in there that wanted to come out in the strange, alien, beautiful, fucked-up way it did in [Death of a Ladies' Man]." [2]

Pop culture references

Death of a Ladies' Man refers to many Scottish indie rock artists, including: [5] Idlewild, Malcolm Middleton, Frightened Rabbit, Zoey Van Goey, The Twilight Sad, Sons and Daughters and Y'all Is Fantasy Island. In 2010, Bissett noted, "I must admit, things are so busy now I’m not going out to gigs much, but I certainly was when I was writing that book. I usually try and catch up with what the following bands of muckers and comrades are doing: Burnt Island, Maple Leaves, Zoey Van Goey and Y’all is Fantasy Island." [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Alan Bissett Interview: Deadlier than the female". scotsman.com. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 Miller, Hollie. "Interview: Alan Bissett". hollie-miller.com. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  3. 1 2 Blanchard, Bethanie. "Interview with Alan Bissett: International Guest of the Emerging Writers' Festival". killyourdarlingsjournal.com. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  4. 1 2 Henderson, Niall. "Schmoozin' with Alan Bissett". forpub.com. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Book review: Death of a Ladies' Man". scotsman.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
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