Press.

I don’t suppose this stuff necessarily means that much, but I thought I’d include some comments from zinesters and others who’ve written about my work.

►Wred Fright of the US-based Underground Literary Alliance bought a copy of the black car leaving mail order and wrote an article about it. You can read the full article by following the link below this excerpt.

THE INTERNATIONAL LITERARY UNDERGROUND: INDIE LIT GOES GLOBAL
If I had to depend on mainstream publishing for all of my reading fix, I’d be going through withdrawal worse than a heroin junkie abandoned on a desert island. Fortunately, I know where else to look. That’s the underground. Which of course is also full of dreck; just uncommercial dreck instead. However, there’s literary gems to be found here if one steers clear of all the Bukowski wannabes and vanity press debris. Case in point: Eddie Willson’s novel The Black Car Leaving.
Willson’s novel concerns a group of friends living in a provincial British seaside town who discover punk rock in the 1970s. It’s a refreshing take on the impact of punk, as seen through the eyes of the average punters in the boonies. Willson does a bang-up job of getting the reader caught up in the excitement of the characters as they embrace the new music and with it the possibilities of new lifestyles. Similarly, one emotionally engages with the characters as they struggle with the dead-end jobs, family traumas, and drug abuse that threaten to derail the new horizons they’ve found in punk. Furthermore, in addition to having an interesting subject, Willson’s storytelling is inventive as the novel is told in both first and third person in multiple perspectives, providing a kaleidoscope effect. Willson’s attention to both the tale and the telling of it make for a charming novel, the literary equivalent of a classic early British punk single.
According to Willson’s blog, I’m probably the first and only person in the USA to have read it. I hope I’m not the last. It deserves better than that. People in the punk subculture would likely enjoy it, as would Anglophiles, working class lit aficionados, and anyone who enjoys a good laugh.
http://www.literaryrevolution.com/ By the time you read this, the article will have been archived, so look in the Monday Report Box for week beginning 26^th April 2004

►Newpages.com reviewed an issue of Any Dream Will Do magazine that included my story, Thankful Sturdy. Here’s what they said; A diverse range of themes and styles exist in this particular issue. Some stories deal directly with mental illness as experienced by someone writing in the first person, while others simply hint at an unidentified dark state of mind. Although many of the characters in the stories confront despair in their lives, most find a way to overcome or at least live with it by the end. In fact, the entire issue presents an overall positive front in the face of the daunting experience of living with a mental illness. My favorite of the bunch was “Thankful Sturdy”, which tells the tale of two British mates and their relationship with a troubled keyboardist who joins their band.

You can follow a direct link to their site here.

►Water Into Beer fanzine reviewed the black car leaving. The reviewer, Tim, wrote; All in all I highly recommend this, you can’t go wrong for £2 (plus 80p postage). It’s a funny, exciting and moving coming of age story set against a backdrop of social unrest, shite bands and even shiter fanzines.

► Sean at Newpages.com reviewed a copy of my new collection of short stories, You Are Here. You can follow a direct link to the site here.

‘Over a year and a half ago, I reviewed a publication called The Any Dream Will Do Review, and my favorite pick from its pages was a story called “Thankful Sturdy” by Eddie Willson. Well, Eddie has since collected a number of his stories and fiction vignettes that have been previously published elsewhere into this photocopied volume. It’s a solid collection that flows well, as Eddie’s stories all share common ground, that of normal working class folks, maybe feeling a little past their prime, and just struggling to find a little joy in their lives. Most of the stories carry a melancholy tone, as they deal with themes of lost love, premature death, and missed opportunities. The dialogue is realistic, and the pacing shows careful crafting. This is definitely among the best fiction writing I’ve read in a zine.’

► Barrie Sherwood at the Incorporating Writing website reviewed an issue of Spiked magazine containing one of my stories. He wrote, ‘The short stories featured in this issue, “Back from the Sea” and “Table Six”, are dark and poignant, respectively. Eddie Willson’s effort is a raw and tasty slice of (low) life.’ You can read the full review here.

► The magazine of the Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers reviewed my zine, Publish and Be Published. You Cn read the full review by following this link.

►All content on the site is copyright Eddie Willson Ó 1994-2004. Don't reproduce any of it without asking permission first. You can email me at eddiewillson2000(at)yahoo.co.uk if you've got questions or feedback about my work, or you just want to get in touch.