DJ Taylor VS Red or Dead by David Peace
The title of David Peace’s famous Red Riding Quartet was an ironic nod to the Brothers Grimm. Red or Dead, his 700-page tribute to legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, put Independent reviewer DJ Taylor in mind of another children’s book:
“What does it remind you of? Well, if its disdain of the adjective and its near-complete avoidance of the figurative garnish betrays a grounding in one or two of the more austere modernist masters, I couldn’t help recalling the Ant and Bee books, with which generations of post-war children were taught to read (“Ant said that because Bee was ill he would have to stay in bed. But Bee said that he did not want to stay in bed”).’
