BEST IN SHOW

I love dogs as much as the next person, perhaps more – I have a ‘Dog of the Day’ calendar on my office desk; there’s a beagle charm on my work lanyard; and I sob at any film in which a dog is remotely in peril. However, I draw the line at dog shows, which are (to me) a bizarre social activity. I can’t fathom dedicating the time, money, or emotional sacrifice required to participate in one. It is surprising, therefore, that one of my all-time favourite films is centred on that very premise – a high camp dog show in which a dozen... eccentrics duke it out and vie for glory.

Our cardinal rule in the (Not) Gay Movie Club is usually that our chosen film cannot specifically be LGBT+ in theme, or include a main character who identifies as queer, but this month we are making an exception, and for good reason. Best in Show may place the cut-throat dynamics of pedigree dog competitions at the forefront, but the film presents a surprisingly queer sensibility, one that holds up 23 years after its release.

Christopher Guest’s genius mockumentary focuses on the fervent owners of five show dogs as they prepare for the prestigious Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. A film crew follows each bizarre participant as they steel themselves for a high-stakes battle of the breeds. Uncommon for our carefully curated classics, Best in Show was a modest success at the box office, but it boasts critical acclaim and a joyous cult following. My research took me to Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies’ unnerving impersonation of the characters last Halloween, which I urge you all to view. Finish reading this first, please.

The film’s all-star cast includes Guest’s typical collaborators: Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, and the queen herself, Jennifer Coolidge, all bring their A game in what I consider to be an outing superior to even This is Spinal Tap. Each couple delivers a unique brand of insanity: take Levy and O’Hara’s middleclass underdogs Gerry and Cookie, always down on their luck but blissfully smitten with their delightful terrier Winky.

While travelling to the show, Gerry must endure a plethora of Cookie’s former paramours who kiss her and try to seduce her, reminiscing about her once hedonistic love life: it is gloriously excruciating. Each couple possesses layer upon layer of back story and detail, creating a compelling cavalcade of kooks. By the end, we are rooting for even the most odious of oddballs.

However, Ms. Coolidge, the patron saint of homosexuality, threatens to steal the show throughout, playing Sherri Ann, the airhead trophy wife of what may be the oldest living man caught on film. We are, of course, in the middle of the Jenaissance, in which Jennifer Coolidge has reminded audiences just how irreverent, beautiful, and hilarious she is and snatched numerous awards doing so. Her chemistry with secret lover, Lynch’s Christy, is palpable (Christy resisting her makeover and ‘Sophia Loren Egyptian cat eye’ from Sherri Ann is a particular highlight), and the revelation of their relationship is a scandalous wonder. After all, the film is much gayer than one may remember.

Perhaps our initial attention lies not with the iconic lesbian power couple but in Scott and Stefan, the proud (in every sense) owners of the most glamorous Shih Tzu in the world, Miss Agnes. Yes, reader, Miss Agnes. They love dogs, old Hollywood glamour, and adhering to a strict skincare regime –when I tell you I feel seen… Best in Show succeeds in depicting a charming, eccentric, but ultimately loving gay couple, a feat not commonly seen at all in early 2000s cinema. Are these characters, played by straight actors, stereotypical of the gay tropes churned out of Hollywood for, well, the entire 20th century? Admittedly, yes, but Scott and Stefan arguably bring the ‘heart’ of the film, and as previously asserted, some of us worryingly relate to the stereotype more than we’d care to mention. But they are but a small part of what qualifies Best in Show for our own illustrious club.

The film is hilarious from the jump; and given the nature of Guest’s filmmaking style, it is almost entirely improvised by the actors, with over 60 hours of footage ultimately filmed. There are so many camp, camp moments: Cookie and Gerry singing ‘God Loves a Terrier’ while their suburban pals watch on, glossy eyed; Parker Posey maniacally screaming ‘You obviously don’t know my dog!’ to a sales clerk who can’t replicate her dog’s lost bee toy; Sherri Ann scrambling to find something she has in common with her husband (‘We both love soup’); the magazine she and Christy create at the end of the film, ‘American Bitch, a focus on the issues of the American lesbian purebred dog owner.’ Each line is wildly funny, which is so impressive knowing each actor walked in with no dialogue. But the devil is in the details – the female actors put such care into looking so monumentally stupid (Meg’s braces, Christy’s spiked hair, everything Sherri Ann wears and eats) that the film is a camp visual feast.

Best in Show is a celebration of loveable outsiders; people unflinchingly passionate about something objectively (please don’t come for me) stupid. What queer person can’t relate, having wasted so much oxygen convincing a colleague that Eurovision is more significant than the World Cup?

The sincerity of the characters and the stakes of their quest grip the audience completely – our hearts dance when the winner is crowned, and break upon the realisation Miss Agnes goes home empty… Pawed? Effortlessly camp and quietly genius, Best in Show invites the reader to indulge in the empathy and compassion we should probably practise on the daily – by the end, you’re desperate to be everyone’s best friend, and this humble dog show has united the most disparate group of people on the planet. If they can manage that, surely we have a shot ourselves.

2022 was another fine year for Scottish writing, with many of the best books reviewed and discussed in SNACK. But instead of looking back we are going to take a glance into the future to bring you ten titles which will be published in 2023, all of which promise great things for the year ahead, in SNACK’s words and the publishers’.

Kirsty Logan is one of Scotland’s most daring and imaginative storytellers, who, from the publication of her award-winning debut short story collection The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales, has shown that few write about the uncanny, ethereal, and otherworldly in the engaging and thoughtprovoking manner she does. There will be a lot of ‘witch fiction’ published in 2023, but Now She is Witch is the novel I am most looking forward to in that genre.

Now She is Witch is out now, published on the Harvill Secker imprint of Penguin Books

From fiction written about witches to the facts, and the terrible stories of the women persecuted, tortured, and murdered as witches in 16th, 17th, and 18th-century Scotland. Allyson Shaw’s Ashes & Stones is part historical investigation, part travelogue, part memoir as she travels Scotland uncovering – sometimes literally – memorials, standing stones, and other landmarks which bear witness to a terrible and abhorrent period in Scottish history.

Shaw also shares her own stories and life experiences, allowing voices from the present and past to be heard and to speak to each other.

Ashes & Stones: A Scottish Journey in Search of Witches and Witness is out now, published by

Sceptre

CATRIONA CHILD – FADE INTO YOU

As shocking as it may be for some of us, the 1990s are now part of history. Catriona Child’s Fade Into You embraces this and promises to evoke heady nostalgia in those who were there, and offer a step back in time for others. Taking its title from Mazzy Star’s beautiful song of the same name, and with an accompanying playlist promised, it looks like Child will infuse the novel with her love of music as she did so brilliantly with her previous novel, Trackman Fade Into You is published by Luath Press, 15th February

LEILA ABOULELA – RIVER SPIRIT

Leila Aboulela is one of Scotland’s finest writers, with an impeccable bibliography which begins with The Translator in 1999 through to 2019’s Birds Summons. Her latest novel, River Spirit, is set during the Mahdist War in 19th-century Sudan, and transports readers with sights, sounds, tastes, and smells to North Africa. That extraordinary sensuality extends to the characters themselves, who live and love against the backdrop of war and a fight for independence. Told through various points of view which change chapter to chapter, River Spirit is a historical novel which offers lessons for today.

River Spirit is published by Saqi Books, 7th March. You can read an interview with Leila Aboulela in this issue of SNACK

DAVID CAMERON – FEMKE

Poet and writer David Cameron’s previous novel Prendergast’s Fall was one of the most stylistically impressive of recent times: a book offering the reader a number of ways to engage with it, and one which rewards multiple readings. His next, Femke, is not as playful with form, but the writing is at least its equal. The central character, Femke, is an unforgettable creation, through which Cameron addresses the classical idea of the artist’s muse and examines the dark and often destructive aspects to such a relationship.

Femke is published by Taproot Press, 15th March

With his own scientific background – nuclear physics, since you ask – this promises to be another thrilling and inventive novel.

The Space Between Us is published by Orenda Books, 16th March

Over the past few years, Doug Johnstone has given us the excellent and exciting Skelfs series of crime thrillers, which are among the best in the genre of recent times. But long-term admirers know he is a versatile and skilful writer, comfortable in many genres, so it’s with genuine excitement I tell you about his science fiction thriller The Space Between Us, in which first contact with extraterrestrials happens in Edinburgh.

Rachelle Atalla’s novel The Pharmacist is one of the most notable debut novels of recent years, so to say the follow-up, Thirsty Animals, is eagerly awaited is an understatement writ large. Set in a world where water is running out, with Scottish cities particularly affected, individuals are faced with the decision as to whether to store or share what supplies they have. Thirsty Animals asks readers to consider both moral and practical questions which appear to be increasingly relevant as global events unfold.

Thirsty Animals is published by Hodder & Stoughton, 16th March

ALAN WARNER – NOTHING LEFT TO FEAR FROM HELL

Polygon Books’s ‘Darkland Tales’ series of novellas have been among Scottish literature’s most exciting books of recent times, including Denise Mina’s Rizzo and Jenni Fagan’s Hex. The latest is Alan Warner’s Nothing Left to Fear from Hell, which is very exciting news as Warner has been a mustread writer ever since his highly-acclaimed debut novel Morvern Callar. This foray into historical fiction, tackling perhaps Scotland’s most famous figure from the past in Bonnie Prince Charlie, is a mouth-watering proposition.

Nothing Left To Fear From Hell is published on the Polygon imprint of Birlinn Ltd, 6th April

If you are aware of Iona Lee’s work then this will be near the top of your ‘must read’ list for 2023. If you aren’t as yet, then The Past Is Just a Tale We Tell will introduce you to a unique, contemporary, and utterly compelling voice.

The Past is Just a Tale We Tell is published on the Polygon imprint of Birlinn, 6th July

JAMES KELMAN – KEEP MOVING AND NO QUESTIONS

Last year James Kelman published God’s Teeth and Other Phenomena, one of the best novels of 2022, but, at least in this country, few people seemed to take notice, with it receiving only a handful of reviews. For Kelman acolytes such as myself, we should thank publisher PM Press for giving the legendary writer a home. And they are really warming to the task, publishing not just his novel, but also essays, interviews, and, excitingly, Keep Moving and No Questions – a short story collection. Kelman is a master of the form, so this promises great things.

Keep Moving and No Questions is published by PM Press, 13th June

Artist and writer Iona Lee has long been considered among finest spoken word and live poetry performers around, so, although Lee has been published widely elsewhere (including a number of excellent pamphlets), news of her debut collection with Polygon is to be welcomed warmly.

Get Up Sequences Part Two by Track: The Go! Team

In 2021 Brighton’s greatest export, The Go! Team released Get Up Sequences Part One. In our review, we commented on the straight line that could be drawn from their first album to their sixth; but on reflection, that line would probably need to take a couple of detours and stopovers in order to travel through the four records in between.

Get Up Sequences Part Two represents the band’s seventh long play release and it carries with it the groove-heavy, soulful, singalong, skippingfriendly pallets of joy the general public have come to expect from Ian Parton and his ever-expanding roster of cohorts.

Somehow TG!T have managed to give their sound an even more global flavour, as exemplified in opener ‘Look Away, Look Away’ which features Star Feminine Band, an all-girl group from West Africa. Saturated drum sounds and scratchy wahwah guitars place the mix geographically in a spot somewhere between Detroit and Bollywood.

Lead Single ‘Divebomb’ could’ve been on the band’s debut album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, and features an exhilarating back and forth between a jaunty toy piano riff and wailing fuzzy guitar parts.

It’s a booming pro-choice call to arms. ‘Protest songs have always been a balancing act,’ says Parton. ‘If you’re too sledgehammer it’s cringey – like the Scorpions’ ‘Winds Of Change’ or something – but at the same time given the shit they are trying to pull with abortion rights it feels weird to ignore it.’

Following this, ‘Getting To Know (All the Ways We’re Wrong For Each Other)’ is an altogether more difficult beast to pigeonhole, but is probably the song that best encapsulates the album’s internationalist sentiment. It might be that it starts off with a Spector-style talk-over before letting loose its extremely catchy flute riff, while the somewhat melancholy lyrics, on first listen, articulate the realisation of a relationship reaching its futile endpoint. Except, it’s not about a person, it’s an ode to falling out of love with your country of residence.

‘Stay and Ask Me in a Different Way’ exerts much more of a cigarette-toting Europeanness. There’s also a swirling noise either made from delayed feedback or an organ being looped which resembles an air raid siren at points. It all just adds to how enormous it sounds.

‘The Me Frequency’ includes TG!T stalwart Ninja, and a seemingly endless choir of steel drums, pinging percussion and enough busy zapping noises to fill an aircraft hangar.

‘Whammy-O’ sees Brooklyn rapper Nitty Scott deliver her trademark rapid flow, laden with the hardest of rhymes, over a downright fruity backing track. I’ve found it impossible to sit still for the duration of this track. It’s the very definition of an irresistible banger.

At the risk of going all Alan Partridge, ‘But We Keep On Trying’ seems to literally be about dusting yourself off and going again. The last 30 seconds or so feature a prominent vibraphone which is always a feature and never a bug.

‘Sock It To Me’ showcases former The Apples in Stereo singer/drummer Hilarie Bratset and is so well-constructed that it’s hard to tell where the chorus starts and stops. The bridge takes an unexpectedly orchestral turn which, when paired with the Wurlitzer-like keys, creates the soundscape of an abandoned, yet glamorous, ballroom.

‘Going Nowhere’ sounds in parts like a Spectrum ZX game with a synth teetering on the edge of going flat all the time, reminiscent of early Human League. Chisato Kokubo from J-pop indie band Lucie, Too performs vocals on the track and the combined result is something that might be the favourite song of a particularly perky robot.

Second single ‘Gemini’ has a snare sound that might well have been merged with a sample of a whip, such is its snappiness, while Ninja rhymes seemingly from an omnipresent, or at least celestial, point of view. I, for one, am perfectly ready to accept her as the source of all earthly and interstellar creation.

‘Train Song’ contains several noises which I’m fairly certain are not a steel pedal guitar but do an incredible job of sounding like a steel pedal guitar. The effect is less a song that’s been countrified, more a country-tinged track from a future that’ll probably never be realised.

Closing track ‘Baby’ features Bollywood playback singer Neha Hatwar but, with the exception of the outro, the Bollywood background mention there is slightly misleading as the track plays out as an expansive widescreen journey into the sunset.

Maturity in a recording career doesn’t impact or embellish all bands equally. Many a band has ‘matured’ in a manner that means abandoning what made them interesting in the first place. Many simply become duller versions of themselves, reploughing already worn-out furrows. The Go! Team have committed neither such transgression but have matured outwards towards the world, absorbing varying influences and acknowledging the passing of time without losing the exuberant joy of just sitting in bouncy rhythms and basking in the wonder of the groove.

Get Up Sequences Part Two is out 3rd February via Memphis Industries