Irvine Welsh: ATL

Last night, Mrs. Cayenne and I made our way out to the Highland Inn Ballroom to catch Irvine Welsh reading from his latest book (now in paperback) The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs. I had never been to the Highland Inn other than to eat at the former Cafe Diem. I had always thought of the Highland Inn, fairly or not, as Atlanta’s answer to the Chelsea Hotel. Needless to say, that would make it the perfect place to catch Trainspotting author, Irvine Welsh.

The newly renovated ballroom is in the basement of the Highland Inn, and it has its own bar. There was a $15 charge for the reading, which inlcluded a signed paperback of the book and two drink tickets. Slim Jim’s, Twizzlers, water, and soda were complimentary. That’s not bad considering the Center for Southern Literature usually charges a minimum of $10 just to get in the building. But wait, there’s more: You could also sign up for a free subscription to the local quarterly lit mag the Chattahoochee Review (which I forgot to do).

Hub Cap City

Opening act Hub Cap City

The reading also featured an opening band, Hub Cap City. I’d never been to a reading with an opening act before. The music fit very well with the Irvine Welsh mystique as well. The trio played multiple instruments and might best be described as “experimental noise” – but in a cool way. The instruments included the typical – guitar, drum, trumpet – and the atypical – typewriter, hand saw played with a violin bow, garbage can lid. The singer/guitarist/trumpet player wore an orange skull mask and made announcements about the “tango contest” between songs.

Irvine Welsh was introduced by Marc Fitten, editor of the Chattahoochee Review, and Fank Reiss, owner of A Capella Books – our hosts for the evening. The first order of business by Mr. Welsh was to ensure that everyone could understand his Scottish accent. When the crowd indicated that we could, he gave thanks to pioneering Scotsmen Groundskeeper Willy and Shrek for bringing the Scottish accent to the American people. This was going to be an entertaining evening.

Irvine Welsh reads in Atlanta
Welsh sets up the scene

Walsh read from four different passages from the book that, on their own, seemed to create a narrative arc. What I’ve always loved about Welsh’s writing is his ability to capture the slang and patois of the Scottish pub/drug culture, as well as the Scots everyman. From what he read last night, the Bedroom Secrets does not dissapoint on that score. The reading finished with what has got to be the most disgusting sex scene ever recorded in the English language. But in an amusing way.

Irvine Welsh reads in Atlanta

Irvine Welsh reading from Bedroom Secrets

Mrs. Cayenne started reading the book during Hub Cap City’s performance and noted that the book begins at a Clash concert. She asked why more books haven’t started that way. I had no answers, but I think it bodes well for my enjoyment of Bedroom Secrets. My signed copy joins the TBR stack.
A special note of thanks to Leslie Barker and Frank Reiss for inviting us out. It was a great book evening.
Update: Another account of the evening can be found at Doug Monroe’s blog at Atlanta Magazine. And here’s a YouTube clip of the reading.

categories Authors, Books, Happenings | Tim | datetime May 13, 2007 5:15 pm

  • By Beth (The Decatur One), May 15, 2007 @ 12:48 am

    Frick! I completely forgot about Mr. Welsh’s visit. [Note to self: Check in with DJ's page daily.]

  • By DJ Cayenne, May 15, 2007 @ 8:43 am

    You learn this lesson again and again… We should be a regular stop for all in the smart set.

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