Dreams of Sex and Stage Diving

Title: Dreams of Sex and Stage Diving
Author: Martin Millar
Published: 1994 by Fourth Estate
Genre: Humorous fiction
Pages: 200


I really do love Millar's books. They're these short-ish treats that just suck you in and generally leave you feeling happy and stuff. Like this one. It's about a young, quite antisocial woman called Elfish, who's into bad sex and brilliant stage diving, plus cheating and lying to further her own plans.

And her big dream is to gain the name Queen Mab for her band (which she doesn't have, but that doesn't stop her) from her ex Mo, before he and his band can perform and claim the name for themselves. To achieve this, she must be able to perform a Shakespeare poem from Romeo and Juliet, regarding Queen Mab, before Mo's band's gig. So she lies her head off through a group of people who have more or less lost their own dreams to gain their help in this endeavor.

It's about hope, and how just a little of it can take you a long way. But not in a sappy way. "Martin Millar is a quite superb, pomp-free writer." says one commenter on the back cover. Well put.


Outside the sun shone and Elfish squinted in disapproval. She hated it when the sun shone brightly. It hurt her eyes, even when they were covered by her hair.
"Hello, Elfish," came one cheerful voice, followed by another.
Cary and Lilac were standing outside, holding hands.
Elfish came to a halt, glowering. She could not be sure but she had the distinct impression that the young lovers were gently squeezing each other's hands in a secret message of devotion.
This was too much for Elfish. She glared evilly at them, stormed back into her house, grabbed the television from the living room and marched upstairs.
She brought out her bottle of whisky and, without removing her leggings, boots or jacket, switched off the light and got into bed. ...