A Working Class Hero Is Something To Be

One thing I’ve always liked about John Lennon, who was shot to death on this day 30 years ago, is that there’s a rare quality of savagery to some of his best lyrics. ‘Working Class Hero’ may not be his finest moment in terms of composition, but it’s the first song I start to hum whenever I hear his name, and it’s a salty antidote to all those renditions of the saccharine ‘Imagine’ you’ll be hearing today. It’s also, given the way the Irish government so punitively punished the Irish people yesterday for the sins of a gilded circle of fools, charlatans and white collar thieves, a timely blast of cold, quiet rage. Roll it there, Collette …

Rhubarb-Rhubarb-Rhubarb: Yep, It's The Latest 'Verbal', Folks

The latest edition of Verbal has hit the interweb streets, people, and it’s a jam-packed* issue. Editor (and author of Running Mates) Garbhan Downey reviews Colin Bateman’s I Predict A Riot (“A truly funny book … savour a master-writer at his mischievous best”), cover story Joe O’Connor waxes lyrical about Redemption Falls, and Anne Enright comes over all moody about stuff ‘n’ such. There’s also reviews of Sex Pistols and John Lennon biogs, a short story from Bernie McGill, some up-and-coming chick-lit writers, and Danny Morrison on ‘how to critique’. And – oh yes! – lots more! Read it NOW or yon Downey’ll come round with his sawn-off hurley. He’s like that, y’know.

* Okay, we know there’s no actual jam involved. But that’s only because they haven’t yet come up with a jam that wouldn’t screw your computer. And they’ll probably have invented that by next month.