Flight From Deathrow

by Harry Hill

What happens when you are sharing a flat with Prince Edward and twenty pygmies? When an artificial-foot freedom fighter throws a British-made foot at the Chairman of the Communist Party of China, and is then bundled off to a Mobile Prison made by the Ford Motor Company? What about the Lady Di Chinese Restaurant in Walthamstow which specializes in radishes carved in the shape of British Prime Ministers? Will Andrew Lloyd Webber complete his new musical "Dog Breeder"? As a stand-up comedian, Harry Hill is the equal of Eddie Izzard, Rich Hall, and Frank Skinner. Performing bareback for the first time, the self-styled debonaire dachshund now makes his fiction debut.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Comedy, British Literature

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Leo H · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an odd book. With Harry Hill I'd say about 70% of his stuff I absolutely love (his stand-up, TV Burp, Alien Fun Capsule) and about 30% I don't enjoy at all (Harry Hill's Tea Time on Sky being the main example). Sadly, this book falls into the 30%. The intricate style of his wonderful early stand-up is there, but his performance of it (intonation, gesture, body language, etc) is missing, as are the wonderful props and other visuals Harry uses in his comedy. This would've worked better as a series of short stories I think, the attempt to string all this mad stuff together into one plot never really works. A bit of a shame, but Alien Fun Capsule is coming back next year, so that's alright then.

[Phil Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still as funny and mad as when I read it almost twenty years ago. If you love Harry Hill as much as I do, it’s a must-read; if you don’t, then you won’t be interested anyway. The hilarity is created by juxtaposing real life figures of entertainment and politics with invented, and largely monstrous, fictional characters, then putting them into mundane situations within which they struggle. The sheer ludicrousness of these incidents will either tickle you or leave you scratching your head. Harry Hill is a unique member of the UK comedy community, and one to be treasured.

[Joseph Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, laugh out loud funny. Do not read on an aeroplane, you might be asked to leave, or at least slip on a straight jacket. The story line is surreal, unreal and totally bonkers. I read it all in one day as I couldn't put it down or stop laughing. I laughed so much that my wife thought I was going to stop breathing. At least, she hoped so.
10 stars!

[Aaron Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and very funny

[Drew Gilchrist · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worst book I’ve ever read-sorry Harry!

[Grace Harwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is described as Harry Hill's debut "novel", but to be perfectly honest, it doesn't really fall into that category. If it was a novel, it would be a fictional work with a coherent, cohesive storyline, characters who are acting out the details of the story, description detailing the action, and at least some conversations which make sense. As it is, although there is the basic bones of a storyline here (concerning a surprisingly sensitive and articulate pig, the characters (apart from the pig) all seem to be comprised of celebrities acting in very strange (I hope fictional) ways, the main descriptive passages detail fights between these celebrities and the only conversations seem to be conducted in a foreign language (think pig patois/conversations that might be held by visiting Chinese dignitaries). Don't know what I'm on about? No, I didn't get it either. All of these random elements, I hasten to add, did not prevent this book from being very, very funny, but it's only "novel" in the sense of the word that it's original; but you wouldn't expect anything less from Mr H. I loved the opening concerning the typo in the title and my only real criticism is that at points it's just too surreal to follow. I agree with another reviewer on this site - it's not Mr H's best work, but it does have its merits. I'm not sure about the test in the middle of the book though ("This is the third and final human riding an animal in this book. Can you name the other two?" p. 226 - Ans: Don't be ridiculous, by page 226 I was as baffled as anyone would be.

[Thomas Rooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll always have a soft spot for Harry Hill but I think this book proved that his sense of humour is best suited to the screen

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. I like Harry Hill on the telly and he was hilarious the one time I saw him live (a very long time ago mind you).

This novel falls between two stools; it's not quite absurd enough to match, say, Spike Milligan, but the various plots spin off at too many zany tangents to make it an amusing farce such as Tom Sharpe's. Filling the book with real people is just plain odd, but it is amusing in a daft sort of way and I found I enjoyed it more the further I read.

[Marte · Rating 1 out of 5]

I reluctantly classify this title as "humour", seeing as I didn't find it funny at all. It didn't take any skill putting this book together, it was purely a random collection of random babble. Not for me.

[Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a bit all over the place, a bit of a disorganised feel to it, but it was very funny in places.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Harry is a very funny man but unfortunately this book made no sense (what I read of it).

[Jono Carney]

I'd wanted to read this for ages and was so let down when it turned out to be meaningless drivel. Avoid!!

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing! I love Harry Hill's zany sense of humour on the telly but this was just too weird to enjoy.

[Gateacre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry Hill is nuts and so is this book! If you like his surreal sense of humour you will enjoy, otherwise move along as there's nothing to see!

[Jamie Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr Hill 's usual madcap wanderings. A great deal of content but does seem to go on a little too long.

[Joebert Aborro]

i want to read this

[Natalie Laccohee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll tell you more once I've read it.... looks good though!

[Luke Weyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, wacky and damn brilliant. Worth a read.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as funny as I expected or it thought it was. A bit more structure would have helped.