Author: Kevin McGeary

Tutor, storyteller and songster.

Book Review: ‘Levelling’ by Alastair J Dickie

Kevin McGeary

A Thrilling Trip through Humanity’s Brilliance and Brutality

Predicting what distant descendants will think of us is as impossible as knowing what type of music our great-great-grandchildren will dance to. Activities that are now legal, from eating meat to air travel to the use of pornography, could soon go the same way as slavery in the arena of public opinion.

Alastair J. Dickie’s debut novella ‘Levelling’ is set in the distant future and involves resurrecting individuals and forcing them to be tried by the titular ‘levellers’ for their involvement or complicity in manmade climate change. Protagonist Addison is brought back to life using a process that can best be explained to someone in the early twenty-first century as ‘cloning’. Levelling is much more sophisticated. It is explained to Addison: “Cloning is for dilettantes, levelling is the closest to Godhood our species ever came”.

Having lived through the cataclysms caused by global warming, the levellers are eager for revenge on the beneficiaries of industrial civilization, people like those in the West of 2020 whose everyday actions pushed the planet to breaking point. Assigned to help raise others from the dead for trial and inevitable torture and execution, Addison quickly discovers that meeting the requirements of the levellers to avoid this fate is as impossible as refraining from all sins mentioned in the Christian Bible. You can read the full review here.

I am passionate about creative activities like songwriting and prose fiction, and the mechanics behind how a piece succeeds or fails. That is why I like to review other artists’ work. If you have an album, book, or other work you want reviewing, please don’t hesitate to hit me up on mcgeary at gmail dot com

Book Review: ‘Jacob’s Advice’ by Jude Cook

Kevin McGeary

A Meditation on Race, Ageing, and Marital Breakdown

Identity is one of the most contentious issues of our day. Whereas some public intellectuals like Lionel Shriver have argued that identity politics are, by their nature, racist. Others have claimed that increasing representation of historically marginalised groups in certain areas will make for a more equitable society.

Among the talk of getting more female CEOs and a higher proportion of BAME cyclists, one minority group that is discussed less frequently is the Jewish community. ‘Jacob’s Advice’, Jude Cook’s second novel, was inspired by the author marrying a Jewish woman. It is a melancholy, minor-key narrative of two middle-aged men in Paris, one whose marriage has recently failed, another who is hopeful of marrying someone much younger than himself.

Narrator Nick is largely detached and defeated, observing ‘you get to a certain age when you realise you’ve had your future. It’s called your past.’ Reflecting on the declined relationship with the mother of his son, he realises ‘I have never knowingly manipulated another, but have laid myself bare to be manipulated by others’. You can read the whole review here.

I am passionate about creative activities like songwriting and prose fiction, and the mechanics behind how a piece succeeds or fails. That is why I like to review other artists’ work. If you have an album, book, or other work you want reviewing, please don’t hesitate to hit me up on mcgeary at gmail dot com

Album Review: ‘Regent Road’ by Robin Mukherjee

Kevin McGeary

Major-Key Melancholy with a Gritty Edge

Robin Mukherjee, a regular on Manchester’s live music scene, has released an album that would have been one of the highlights of 2020, even if much of the music world hadn’t been forcibly closed down for many weeks. Packed with some of the most deliciously melancholic music you will hear in a major key, ‘Regent Road’ is as smooth and stylish as anything by Damien Rice or Badly Drawn Boy, and even recalls Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and Lou Reed.

Playing the guitar, piano, and mandolin, Mukherjee’s music is particularly characterized by arpeggios swooping attractively. His lyrics contain small-town ennui, including in the opener ‘I Used to Stand Tall’ and the title track. There is also repressed romance in ‘The Back of My Mind’ and ‘By Your Side’. But that is not to say the lyrics are soft-edged.

‘Sweet Dreams My Angel’ belongs in the tradition of ‘love’ ballads that are much more antagonistic than they will seem to the more passive listener. The character that the lyrics address has ‘an ego the size of dad’s wallet’, and a pillow as cold as her heart. This is followed by a chorus with all the understated animosity of Sting’s ‘Every Breath You Take’. You can read the whole review here.

I am passionate about creative activities like songwriting and prose fiction, and the mechanics behind how a piece succeeds or fails. That is why I like to review other artists’ work. If you have an album, book, or other work you want reviewing, please don’t hesitate to hit me up on mcgeary at gmail dot com

Beyond the Wings, October 2020

Kevin McGeary

This year has of course been a tsunami of awfulness. It seems every week, at least one of my social media contacts is losing someone close to them. It’s difficult to stay productive, but the best effort must be made.

Output

This month, I have recorded and uploaded recently written songs with improved audio. These include ‘Epiphany’, which is a sure thing for the next album:

I also wrote a non-comedy song:

Activities

With a second lockdown looming here in the UK, it is important to find reasons to be joyful. I was pleased to receive some endorsements of my comedy songwriting from artists who I respect. Their kind words can be found on this page.

And since all human life has moved online, I am hosting lots of exciting literary events like this and this, and musical events like this and this.

Wider World

The American election takes place at the beginning of November. Every election is described as ‘the most important of our lifetime’. Considering the progressive nature of Joe Biden’s climate change policy and Trump’s incurable character flaws. This one probably is.

I gave this interview about it to Nour Negm:

Beyond the Wings, September 2020

Kevin McGeary

I am hardly alone in saying that many ambitions and resolutions for this year have had to be scrapped, from get a novel to submittable standard, to being able to bench my own weight. But there have been some consolations, and there may still be a few more.

Output

This month, I had a short story appear in an eBook from one of the Anglophone world’s most admired publishers, Manchester’s own Comma Press. It is about celebrity, and covers issues that are even more fraught now than when I wrote it at the end of last year.

I have also placed three new original songs on YouTube, an English one about the corporate world

Another English one about the government

And a Chinese one about infidelity

Activities

I have taken on new clients for ESL, as my tutoring continues to grow beyond my expectations. It has also been a relief to get back to certain places of business, from gyms to swimming pools, though like most people, I lost a lot of fitness during the March to August period.

Like everyone else, I am trying to keep it together emotionally. Music seems the best way of staying serene.

Wider World

With Covid infections way up, there is little hope that the end of 2020 will be any less miserable than the spring, summer, and autumn. I had been planning to write an essay about the American election, but it turns out Andrew Sullivan has already written it for me.