Junk Mail, by Will Self (Penguin, £7.99 in UK)

This book might just as well have been entitled Know Thy Self comprising as it does an entertaining and thought provoking trip through the non fiction works of the stylish satirist who has garnered such praise for his novella Cock and Bill and his short story collection Grey Area. Self discusses art with Damien Hirst ("I think I'm basically getting more yobbish"), writing with Martin Amis ("I think the real mystery is talent. Because all writers have had those days when it doesn't feel like endeavour, when it feels like you're just clearing away stuff to get at what's there") and Troubles memorabilia with the assistant librarian of the Linen Hall Library in Belfast ("What do you do with a Kick the Pope lollipop when it starts to melt?") He can be maddeningly opinionated and his William Burroughs obsession is a bore, but Self certainly has his finger on the lurching pulse of our times.