you don't see a lot of waistcoats round these parts anymore. but ian sansom is one of the last in a generation of waistcoat wearers. apart, that is, from the gaggle of teenyboppers buying topshop out of retro waistcoasts, ornamenting them with dangley, spangley beads and standing around the city hall on a drizzley saturday afternoon eating marks and spencer's sandwiches from a triangular box and flirting with boys with skinny black jeans and swept over hair. apart from them, there aren't a lot of waistcoats around. and i suspect ian sansom doesn't buy his in topshop.apart from wearing waistcoats, ian sansom writes things down. words mostly. sometimes doodles. even the occasional smiley face. but for the most part he can be found writing words on pieces of paper.
he wrote enough words to make a book, and had enough left to include chapter summaries, footnotes and an index of key words, phrases and concepts. turns out, the words are very funny. hilarious in fact. and tragically perceptive about the way we live. and the sandwiches we eat.
ring road is a book about small town life. a book about people. and religion. and shopping malls. and secret longings. and private obsessions. and how people cope with death. and irish themed restaurants. and loneliness. and spam. and rain. and charismatic evangelicalism. and paranoia. and consumerism. and the dump. but most importantly, ring road is a book about bangor.
it's worth your time.
