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Outrageous Fortune
In this outrageously funny, outrageously inventive debut, one of the most outrageously talented new writers to break onto the sci-fi scene in decades asks the most loaded question of all…
"Don't you hate it when this happens?"
…that’s what the business card asks Jonny X67, dream architect to the rich and jaded. It’s all the thieves who stole his house left behind. And if that weren’t bad enough, a saleswoman named Caroline E61 drops from the sky to sell him a set of encyclopedias and won’t take no for an answer. Can his luck get any worse?
In this rip-roaring roller-coaster ride through a brilliantly imagined future of paranoid absurdity, Jonny X will learn the answer soon enough when he falls afoul of a lunatic motorcycle gang nicknamed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a relentless Belgian assassin, and his own irate girlfriend. Traversing a cityscape whose neighborhoods are organized by musical genres, running into joke-telling elevators and holographic computer viruses, Jonny is about to learn what a nightmare it’s going to be to get his old life back in a reality warping faster than the speed of the imagination. Outrageous Fortune heralds a marvelous new talent sure to be delightfully altering the minds of readers for years to come.
"Don't you hate it when this happens?"
…that’s what the business card asks Jonny X67, dream architect to the rich and jaded. It’s all the thieves who stole his house left behind. And if that weren’t bad enough, a saleswoman named Caroline E61 drops from the sky to sell him a set of encyclopedias and won’t take no for an answer. Can his luck get any worse?
In this rip-roaring roller-coaster ride through a brilliantly imagined future of paranoid absurdity, Jonny X will learn the answer soon enough when he falls afoul of a lunatic motorcycle gang nicknamed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a relentless Belgian assassin, and his own irate girlfriend. Traversing a cityscape whose neighborhoods are organized by musical genres, running into joke-telling elevators and holographic computer viruses, Jonny is about to learn what a nightmare it’s going to be to get his old life back in a reality warping faster than the speed of the imagination. Outrageous Fortune heralds a marvelous new talent sure to be delightfully altering the minds of readers for years to come.
371 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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206 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
January 11, 2010
I have a new source of internal cerebral itching, and its name is Outrageous Fortune by Tim Scott.
The chief problem is that this guy is trying very hard and very consciously to be the bastard child of Douglas Adams and Nick Hornby. Much too hard, IMHO. And it isn't even funny. It's just self-consciously quirky. Oooh, people live in music zones and the your phone talks back to you and the traffic cops are the strongest force and stuff people in pneumatic tubes! Isn't that crazy, man?! Doesn't that like just blow your mind!?? Isn't that a hilarious commentary on contemporary society?
(the music zones especially piss me off, since 1)it's too much of a riff on Hornby, whom I don't like as much as Adams, and 2)we're actually expected to believe from a book published in 2007 that the music companies were at the "height of their power" and could pull this off in the future, which seems to be sometime in the next 100 years. Sorry. I'll swallow easy warp drive first)
Even worse, the narrator is a lovable layabout terrified of commitment and moaning about the fear of life and a constant desire for Long Island Iced Teas - in other words, this asshole wandered in from a Nick Hornby novel. And I have no sympathy for him, even after his house was stolen and he was chased by the Four Bikers of the Apocalypse. "oh, I'm not poor and I live well, what does my life mean??" I HATE moaning whiners like that !!! It's all I can do to stop from assaulting them in real life! Adams' characters at least confronted the bewildering universe with a little more balls.
But the icing on this crap cake is that this clearly British work, with clearly British characters - using words like freight haulage, traffic warden, and wanker - is set not just in the USA but in California. That severely pisses me off.
If you read only one book this year, make sure it's not this one.
The chief problem is that this guy is trying very hard and very consciously to be the bastard child of Douglas Adams and Nick Hornby. Much too hard, IMHO. And it isn't even funny. It's just self-consciously quirky. Oooh, people live in music zones and the your phone talks back to you and the traffic cops are the strongest force and stuff people in pneumatic tubes! Isn't that crazy, man?! Doesn't that like just blow your mind!?? Isn't that a hilarious commentary on contemporary society?
(the music zones especially piss me off, since 1)it's too much of a riff on Hornby, whom I don't like as much as Adams, and 2)we're actually expected to believe from a book published in 2007 that the music companies were at the "height of their power" and could pull this off in the future, which seems to be sometime in the next 100 years. Sorry. I'll swallow easy warp drive first)
Even worse, the narrator is a lovable layabout terrified of commitment and moaning about the fear of life and a constant desire for Long Island Iced Teas - in other words, this asshole wandered in from a Nick Hornby novel. And I have no sympathy for him, even after his house was stolen and he was chased by the Four Bikers of the Apocalypse. "oh, I'm not poor and I live well, what does my life mean??" I HATE moaning whiners like that !!! It's all I can do to stop from assaulting them in real life! Adams' characters at least confronted the bewildering universe with a little more balls.
But the icing on this crap cake is that this clearly British work, with clearly British characters - using words like freight haulage, traffic warden, and wanker - is set not just in the USA but in California. That severely pisses me off.
If you read only one book this year, make sure it's not this one.
July 30, 2018
I bought this used paperback book so I could literally read while floating on a raft in a pool (really!, book lover heaven; give it a try), and it was perfect for that. It takes place in the future where dreams are manufactured, and people live in sections divided by the music they love. The main character, a dream architect has his house stolen (as in physically removed) and is left a note by the thieves "Don't you hate it when this happens?". From there he descends into a madcap chase involving surfing, long island ice teas and an "encyclopedia" sales person. It is over the top, too fragmented, but often laugh out loud funny. Does not need a lot of attention, so I did find it perfect for the pool.
July 23, 2009
There's a sad thing that happens to books like this--they get labeled as being like Pratchett, or Douglas Adams. Then fans of those books show up and read them, and get mad b/c "This guy's no Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett!"
It's kind of unfair to describe a book by comparing it to another writer for this reason, but marketing departments need to sell books and those writers sell, so why not make the comparison?
This was not the funniest book I've read, but it did make me laugh in parts.
The true strengths of the book are as follows:
Some of the main "world-building" concepts in the book are fascinating-- The gadgetry, the way people are addicted to said gadgetry, homes being stolen. Tim Scott is clearly a writer who looks at things sideways, and so comes up with great ideas about our world and where it's heading.
Scott handles action extremely well, and builds anticipation in the reader to keep the him or her turning the page.
Scott's use of profanity, when he uses it, is amusing.
There is also a bit of an undercurrent of social commentary that I enjoyed.
The weak points:
There are mental asides on the part of the narrator that are bit too lengthy. It's easy to turn up your reading speed and skim these parts though.
The ending breaks a fairly iron-clad rule in modern fiction, though the idea of the ending turned the cliche' on its ear and ties in with the over-arcing storyline, Scott did not pull it off quite as elegantly as I believe he could have to make it really work.
The Jake subplot, though tied up at the end, was kind of cut short and not completely satisfactory, given its great build-up inside the plot.
The author breaks another rule most readers like in their fiction. If your story has a point, let us draw that conclusion on our own rather than spelling it out for us. Most readers stopped needing "And the moral of the story is..." after finishing Aesop in elementary school. It makes the reader feel smart to figure this out on their own, and if they don't get it, then they start talking to other people who've read the book, or re-read it to try to find the point. To spell it out, is to take that away--it's kind of like sitting down to watch The Usual Suspects and having someone in the audience shout out, "There is no Kaiser Sose! Kevin Spacey's character is making it all up!" (Sorry if I ruined that one for anyone).
It seems like an editor, or perhaps an agent might could've helped the author address these issues before the book saw print, but it is a first novel, and I think there's enough promise here for me to find a copy of Mr. Scott's next book, Love in the Time of Fridges.
All in all, the fast paced action. The interspersed smiles and chuckles and the well-thought out social commentary make me say give this book a shot.
It's kind of unfair to describe a book by comparing it to another writer for this reason, but marketing departments need to sell books and those writers sell, so why not make the comparison?
This was not the funniest book I've read, but it did make me laugh in parts.
The true strengths of the book are as follows:
Some of the main "world-building" concepts in the book are fascinating-- The gadgetry, the way people are addicted to said gadgetry, homes being stolen. Tim Scott is clearly a writer who looks at things sideways, and so comes up with great ideas about our world and where it's heading.
Scott handles action extremely well, and builds anticipation in the reader to keep the him or her turning the page.
Scott's use of profanity, when he uses it, is amusing.
There is also a bit of an undercurrent of social commentary that I enjoyed.
The weak points:
There are mental asides on the part of the narrator that are bit too lengthy. It's easy to turn up your reading speed and skim these parts though.
The ending breaks a fairly iron-clad rule in modern fiction, though the idea of the ending turned the cliche' on its ear and ties in with the over-arcing storyline, Scott did not pull it off quite as elegantly as I believe he could have to make it really work.
The Jake subplot, though tied up at the end, was kind of cut short and not completely satisfactory, given its great build-up inside the plot.
The author breaks another rule most readers like in their fiction. If your story has a point, let us draw that conclusion on our own rather than spelling it out for us. Most readers stopped needing "And the moral of the story is..." after finishing Aesop in elementary school. It makes the reader feel smart to figure this out on their own, and if they don't get it, then they start talking to other people who've read the book, or re-read it to try to find the point. To spell it out, is to take that away--it's kind of like sitting down to watch The Usual Suspects and having someone in the audience shout out, "There is no Kaiser Sose! Kevin Spacey's character is making it all up!" (Sorry if I ruined that one for anyone).
It seems like an editor, or perhaps an agent might could've helped the author address these issues before the book saw print, but it is a first novel, and I think there's enough promise here for me to find a copy of Mr. Scott's next book, Love in the Time of Fridges.
All in all, the fast paced action. The interspersed smiles and chuckles and the well-thought out social commentary make me say give this book a shot.
February 14, 2008
I knew going in that trying a "zany" book from an unknown author was a crap shoot. "Outrageously funny" usually translates into "very mildly funny without much of a plot". Because, ya know, near random events are so much funnier than having a plot.
The first page uses the f-word three times. Not a good sign.
At 10 pages in I was ready to throw it against the wall, but I didn't feel that 10 pages was enough for a fair review.
At 15 pages it was enough.
It was _soooo_ enough that I want to look up the authors who provided blurbs and give them bad reviews as well. I will exercise restraint.
Generally a fiction story is mix of imagination, character, and plot transmitted by the author's writing skill. Not all four elements have to be solid, for example a great imagination can compensate for a lesser writing skill (J. K. Rowling). However, writing a novel with only one of the four elements is like riding a horse with only one leg.* It doesn't matter how strong that leg is, riding the horse is not going to be pleasant or effective.
It is the lack of writing skill, the inability to form clear sentences, that really ticks me off. Maybe I am a snob, so here I present a very minor example from the first page. A description of a business card: "In the bottom right-hand corner, inexplicably, I noticed a phone number." Say what? Either (a) it is inexplicable that there is a phone number on a business card?, (b) it is inexplicable for the number to be in the corner??, (c) it is inexplicable that he noticed???, or, and I think this is the technically correct grammatical sense, (d) he himself is in the corner of the card, inexplicably???? It is like laying a trip-wire across the reader's path. One or two I would ignore, but one or two trip-wires per page left me with bruised shins and scraped knees, not at all the reading experience I am looking for. Yet the book was published. Inexplicably.
*Footnote: no actual horses were harmed in this review.
The first page uses the f-word three times. Not a good sign.
At 10 pages in I was ready to throw it against the wall, but I didn't feel that 10 pages was enough for a fair review.
At 15 pages it was enough.
It was _soooo_ enough that I want to look up the authors who provided blurbs and give them bad reviews as well. I will exercise restraint.
Generally a fiction story is mix of imagination, character, and plot transmitted by the author's writing skill. Not all four elements have to be solid, for example a great imagination can compensate for a lesser writing skill (J. K. Rowling). However, writing a novel with only one of the four elements is like riding a horse with only one leg.* It doesn't matter how strong that leg is, riding the horse is not going to be pleasant or effective.
It is the lack of writing skill, the inability to form clear sentences, that really ticks me off. Maybe I am a snob, so here I present a very minor example from the first page. A description of a business card: "In the bottom right-hand corner, inexplicably, I noticed a phone number." Say what? Either (a) it is inexplicable that there is a phone number on a business card?, (b) it is inexplicable for the number to be in the corner??, (c) it is inexplicable that he noticed???, or, and I think this is the technically correct grammatical sense, (d) he himself is in the corner of the card, inexplicably???? It is like laying a trip-wire across the reader's path. One or two I would ignore, but one or two trip-wires per page left me with bruised shins and scraped knees, not at all the reading experience I am looking for. Yet the book was published. Inexplicably.
*Footnote: no actual horses were harmed in this review.
February 2, 2018
Tim Scott takes readers on a fantastical journey into a bizarre and fantastic realm full of comedy and absurdity. Cities divided into zones based on music taste and policed by the ever mysterious Zone Security. The main characters find themselves thrust into conspiracy of absurd proportions involving a stolen house, tailored dreams, a gang of bikers seeking to assassinate God, the worlds most inaccessible bar, and the encyclopedia salesman from hell. Have plenty of Long Island Ice Teas on hand, this is a wild comedic ride that doesn't disappoint.
June 9, 2019
I struggled to keep thinking of this as humorous. The details were fast and furious -my energy went to imagining the story, leaving me a little too tired to enjoy LOL-ing. I think as a film it would have been a great comedy.
I did like the epilogue. Another reviewer felt it was rhetorical but I found it to be an enlightening perspective of the hero arc.
I did like the epilogue. Another reviewer felt it was rhetorical but I found it to be an enlightening perspective of the hero arc.
December 6, 2023
Definitely a fun read. Wasn't sure where we were going.
Undoubtedly, there is no virus more outrageous than,
Spoiler Alert,
The one you write yourself!!!
--going the whole way, all or nothing, and too much curiosity for my own good.
:)
Undoubtedly, there is no virus more outrageous than,
Spoiler Alert,
The one you write yourself!!!
--going the whole way, all or nothing, and too much curiosity for my own good.
:)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 27, 2023Nope
July 17, 2009
I had to stop reading this about a quarter of the way through. This book was written like an 8th grader's short story or a poor piece of fan fiction. The writer has plenty of imagination and is clearly excited about his subject, but no ability to execute. Don't get me wrong - I love wacky books, but the writer has to be able to pull it off, and this is no Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.
One other reviewer here likened it to someone scribbling down a dream that makes little sense, and I agree with that analogy. It is written frenetically and does not appear to have been edited much, if at all.
With made-up facts so as to avoid spoilers, this is how the plot development felt to me:
"A woman sat next to me at the table. Suddenly I realized she had what I can only describe as a gun! I quickly hatched a plan and ran away. Then I realized she was there to save me. But an alien came in the window and pulled me into his spaceship. Then I realized the alien was really a man in a mask! I jumped out of the spaceship and a man carrying a ficus told me to follow him if I wanted to live. I pulled out my phone and called my friend. Then I saw the woman with the gun was chasing us. Bastards! Bastaaaaaaards!" (yes, he actually does the 'repeated letter for emphasis' thing on page 2)
The other problem is that many of his sentences are simply awkward and do not make sense, either because of violating grammar conventions or misusing adjectives and adverbs. There's a great example on page 1 of a misuse of the word "inexplicably," but another reviewer on here has a funny take on that, so I won't steal his thunder.
Before I checked the publisher, I assumed this book was self-published or came from a very small outfit without much quality control or editing. I was surprised to see the book was from Bantam. Even the descriptions on the title cover and the back of the book are awkward. This was bad enough, and the description of the author is vague enough, that I would honestly not be surprised if I found out the book was written by a fantastic and famous author as a joke on bad writing.
One other reviewer here likened it to someone scribbling down a dream that makes little sense, and I agree with that analogy. It is written frenetically and does not appear to have been edited much, if at all.
With made-up facts so as to avoid spoilers, this is how the plot development felt to me:
"A woman sat next to me at the table. Suddenly I realized she had what I can only describe as a gun! I quickly hatched a plan and ran away. Then I realized she was there to save me. But an alien came in the window and pulled me into his spaceship. Then I realized the alien was really a man in a mask! I jumped out of the spaceship and a man carrying a ficus told me to follow him if I wanted to live. I pulled out my phone and called my friend. Then I saw the woman with the gun was chasing us. Bastards! Bastaaaaaaards!" (yes, he actually does the 'repeated letter for emphasis' thing on page 2)
The other problem is that many of his sentences are simply awkward and do not make sense, either because of violating grammar conventions or misusing adjectives and adverbs. There's a great example on page 1 of a misuse of the word "inexplicably," but another reviewer on here has a funny take on that, so I won't steal his thunder.
Before I checked the publisher, I assumed this book was self-published or came from a very small outfit without much quality control or editing. I was surprised to see the book was from Bantam. Even the descriptions on the title cover and the back of the book are awkward. This was bad enough, and the description of the author is vague enough, that I would honestly not be surprised if I found out the book was written by a fantastic and famous author as a joke on bad writing.
December 16, 2011
I remember liking this book more than my Library Journal review implies:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article...
Scott's sf debut envisions a future where cities are segregated into neighborhoods based on musical style. Our hero, Jonny, lives in Chillout; however, his adventures are anything but relaxing. Coming home with a hangover after a drunken fight with his girlfriend, he finds his house stolen (that's right, not the contents, but the whole house) and a card left for him saying, "Don't you hate it when this happens?" And down the rabbit hole the book goes from there. The novel doesn't lack for action, but it does lack an easy-to-follow plot. Jonny gets into scrape after scrape, and the reader has no idea why. All is eventually explained in a too short epilog, but many readers may have given up by then. The humor is surreal and goes a long way to retaining a reader's interest (sample dialog: "Come with me if you want to buy a set of encyclopedias!"), but the disjointedness of it all could be too much for some. Recommended only for large sf collections.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article...
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July 31, 2007awesome book. science fiction, but it doesn't really feel like science fiction. there's all kinds of futuristic gizmos and big brother governments and all that, but the book is really... human. the narrator is totally human and you can totally sympathize with him; there's a lot of actual human emotional stuff going on in this book which you can really get into, so it's not like total space alien techno. Also, it's really, really funny. The guy seems to be paying homage to Douglas Adams in some places (really annoying talking elevators?), but has his own, completely entertaining, style.
Definitely not for those who don't like weird. It starts out with the main character having his house stolen and only a business card left behind: "Don't you hate it when this happens?" And then an extremely tenacious encyclopedia saleswoman drops out of the sky. And then it gets weird.
This book is just a trip. I'm loving it.
Definitely not for those who don't like weird. It starts out with the main character having his house stolen and only a business card left behind: "Don't you hate it when this happens?" And then an extremely tenacious encyclopedia saleswoman drops out of the sky. And then it gets weird.
This book is just a trip. I'm loving it.
October 31, 2013
I read the back cover and was expecting kind of a zany/light-hearted/humorous adventure, which it was, but I was surprised by the darks turns into moments of existentialism and crises of mortality. This passage in particular punched me right in the gut:
"The shock of the escape had touched a nerve inside of me, maybe because I hadn't been properly awake, but the idea of dying now seemed real and cold and lonely. I had hoped that, in the moment of death, my life would all add up to something that would be realized in a flourish of understanding and peace. But this had made me see I could be wiped out in a flurry of trivia and my last thoughts might be confused and meaningless, and somehow that was more surprising than the idea of being consumed in a sheet of pain."
It does take some time for the author to build up to the impact of the story, but I think the book is enjoyable despite the extremely long plot set-up.
"The shock of the escape had touched a nerve inside of me, maybe because I hadn't been properly awake, but the idea of dying now seemed real and cold and lonely. I had hoped that, in the moment of death, my life would all add up to something that would be realized in a flourish of understanding and peace. But this had made me see I could be wiped out in a flurry of trivia and my last thoughts might be confused and meaningless, and somehow that was more surprising than the idea of being consumed in a sheet of pain."
It does take some time for the author to build up to the impact of the story, but I think the book is enjoyable despite the extremely long plot set-up.
February 22, 2010
A tale set in a future time in a city where neighborhoods are named according to music types and residents dress and act in accordance to the assigned musical theme. The story begins as Jonny X, a dream architect, goes home only to discover his house is missing. It has been stolen by a gang of thugs who left a calling card with the slogan “Don’t you hate it when this happens?” and a phone number. Moments later he's latched onto by a limpet encyclopedia saleswoman who insists he must buy a set of the bound books (now relegated to museums) or else face the consequences. That's just the beginning of odd encounters that get more bizarre and funny as the story unfolds. It’s not until the end of the book that the explanation of these events lands with a hard thud.
If you enjoy the works of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, this is likely to be a book you will enjoy.
If you enjoy the works of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, this is likely to be a book you will enjoy.
January 1, 2012
I picked up this book because the cover reminded me of the cover of John Scalzi's "Andromeda's Dream". I kept it because Michael Marshall (another favorite author) endorsed it - on the front cover. It's a first novel. The plot is intricate, funny, and self-propelling. Like any thoughtful work it asks important questions without giving any EASY answers in the end. It has a healthy sense of dread like any good horror novel.It has a California love of the laid back life. That life gets interrupted by a dangerous idea that the protagonist has to unravel and stop before it comes to dangerous reality. An interesting cast of characters - not well developed - but good enough for a sci-fi action flick. Dollops of Shakepeare thrown in. Some old fashioned sentiment and plenty of new age irreverence.
It's a fun read.
It's a fun read.
August 14, 2016
Not funny enough to make me laugh, not deep enough to make me interested and not nearly short enough to make me not hate it.
Most of the time is spent in a confusing mess of the plot, where neither the character (there is only one) nor the reader knows what is going on. Every time there is a hint towards progress another pointless distraction is thrown at you in a collection of excruciating boredom. I repeatedly looked at my progress, dreading how much I still had to read.
Ironically I was almost brought around (read: two stars!) by the finale, where the story still not made much sense, but at least that got justified. Then I read the Epilogue where a not even thinly disguised author avatar tells me how cleverly the plot was put together.
This was written by someone who won a BAFTA (for writing?). I wouldn’t wait for literary prizes.
Most of the time is spent in a confusing mess of the plot, where neither the character (there is only one) nor the reader knows what is going on. Every time there is a hint towards progress another pointless distraction is thrown at you in a collection of excruciating boredom. I repeatedly looked at my progress, dreading how much I still had to read.
Ironically I was almost brought around (read: two stars!) by the finale, where the story still not made much sense, but at least that got justified. Then I read the Epilogue where a not even thinly disguised author avatar tells me how cleverly the plot was put together.
This was written by someone who won a BAFTA (for writing?). I wouldn’t wait for literary prizes.
April 5, 2008
Outrageously Funny! If you like British Humor and Crazy Science Fiction, then you'll love Outrageous Fortune. I would give this book an R rating only for the very strong language--the first word of the book is F***ers! But it is one crazy roller coaster ride. The main character is having a really F***-Up day (forgive my asterisks). He is chased around a Southern California that is divided up into musical genre themed neighborhoods including Christmas Carols, Punk, Easy-listening, White Noise--just to name a few. Tim Scott reminds me of Douglas Adams --almost. My one criticism is that although the character is from Southern California all of his English has British English characteristics. I guess it's one more crazy element of the book.
July 25, 2008
Tim Scott's Outrageous Fortune is a quirky adventure set in an almost recognizable tomorrow. The characters are funny and adventurous and the plot is full of action and suspense. In fact, the only real negative for me, were the moments of deep introspection that the lead character indulged in.
Those moments, frankly, felt like something the publisher insisted on fearing that a modern audience with a thirty second attention span may lose the plot. Or perhaps the author just needed to pad his wordcount. Either way, there were several pages at various points of the story where I could have used a bit less introspection and more description of the vivid and surreal landscape Scott created.
Still, it is a good summer read, especially for those who like their fiction light, but weird.
Those moments, frankly, felt like something the publisher insisted on fearing that a modern audience with a thirty second attention span may lose the plot. Or perhaps the author just needed to pad his wordcount. Either way, there were several pages at various points of the story where I could have used a bit less introspection and more description of the vivid and surreal landscape Scott created.
Still, it is a good summer read, especially for those who like their fiction light, but weird.
June 2, 2011
I had to drop the rating down after finishing the book. The ending of this ruins what was a good attempt at a really cool idea for a story. Too bad so much of the story is confusing as hell and the only way it is all explained is in the bad, cheap, over-used ending that they came up with. And the one page sermon at the end that seemed to be the whole reason the book was written in the first place cheapened the ideas even more.
From the explanation of the book on the back and to the small write-ups online this book sounded like it had some really great potential. Too bad the potential was overpowered by cliche.
From the explanation of the book on the back and to the small write-ups online this book sounded like it had some really great potential. Too bad the potential was overpowered by cliche.
July 30, 2011
Well, based on other reviews, I went back to try and finish it, but still I couldn't. It lacks a certain connection. It is funny, with lots of unexpected pairings and word choices, but slick writing can only carry a stoy so far and without an emotional connection to the characters, I'm afraid the story fails. I was never able to piece all the friends connections together because there wasn't enough depth or detail there. The one little bit of romance, was so far fetched. It is a silly book. But not silly and loveable like Hitchhikers, which it seems to want to emulate, but silly as in forgetable.
April 1, 2008
Outrageous Fortune by Tim Scott is a rare blend of action, humor, absurdity, science-fiction and personal insight. You know things are going to be interesting when the first word of Outrageous Fortune is ‘Fuckers’, uttered by main character, Johnny X67. He has every right to be pissed. His house has just been stolen. But that’s not even in the Top 10 of strange things that Johnny encounters in this non-stop adventure.
Read my full review on the Used Books Blog:
http://usedbooksblog.com/blog/outrage...
Read my full review on the Used Books Blog:
http://usedbooksblog.com/blog/outrage...
July 3, 2013
This book is hilarious. From the very start when the Jonny finds his house has been stolen, to the section of the city that is based on Christmas music (complete with taxis that are sleighs). Don't worry if you don't know what is going on - neither does Jonny. Just sit back and enjoy the crazy ride. Oh - and be on the lookout for Shakespeare quotes - they appear in the most unlikely of places. Reading this book won't help you find the answer to the question of "whether 'tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." It might not be noble, but it certainly is more fun!
December 28, 2013
For the first 330 pages of this book I was completely confused. Usually I am a big fan of weird fiction - House of Leaves, Infinite Jest, Shades of Gray... but there was something about this book that kept me too confused to truly enjoy myself. It felt like a futuristic video game written down on paper.
Only in the last few pages did everything come together, which for me was the only redeeming factor of the book. The ending was really interesting, but I'm not sure it was worth the confusion the majority of the way through to have my mind-blown at the end.
Only in the last few pages did everything come together, which for me was the only redeeming factor of the book. The ending was really interesting, but I'm not sure it was worth the confusion the majority of the way through to have my mind-blown at the end.
July 28, 2011
Such a fun book! I laughed out loud several times while reading it. The book reminded me of something that Douglas Adams might have written after spending an evening drinking and brainstorming with Neal Stephenson. The plot is an crazy sequence of increasingly over the top events and just when i was sure there was no way to end it satisfactorily, Scott pulled it all together neatly. I am going to need to check out his 2nd novel (Love in the Time of Fridges) soon.
August 26, 2008
I think that I enjoyed this book mostly because I really had no idea what was going on until the end. Also I really enjoy what I call "absurdist" humor where the situation or conversation is so absurd that it is hilarious. The only criticism that I have for this book is that it supposedly takes place in California, but do to the dialogue and overall feel it should be based in England.
April 25, 2016
I was out of books to read and so was just browsing through the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section and came across this book. It sounded interesting and I was not disappointed. The humor is very much like Jasper Fforde or Douglas Adams and the story reminded me of Good Omens. The premise behind the story was amazing and definitely not something that I guessed.
August 9, 2009
I seldom/rarely read science fiction and picked this book up out of curiosity. It was a delight, full of quirkiness. The world is run by record companies--really! Scott's writing is slyly, low-key wit, e.g., "I didn't want to blunder into his office like a bull in a china shop---or indeed, like any kind of dairy animal visiting any sort of consumer outlet."
September 16, 2009
Joke telling elevators and areas of the city broken up into musical genre. The Record Companies running the government and kidnapping encyclopedia salesmen.
What's not to love?
I didn't see the end coming. And I didn't like how it was very British but set in California. I also found it easy to put down and it took me ages to finish.
Overall, I liked.
What's not to love?
I didn't see the end coming. And I didn't like how it was very British but set in California. I also found it easy to put down and it took me ages to finish.
Overall, I liked.
February 24, 2011
It was definitely an interesting take on the world. It kept me interested in it enough throughout the two weeks of meal-only reading that it took me to finish it, but I wasn't interested enough to keep reading it outside of my mealtimes. I was just as baffled throughout the entire book as the main character was, and the ending/what caused the craziness seemed a little out of left field.
September 20, 2012
the grammar was horrendous, bordering on abuse, and the story was scattered and undeveloped.
I couldn't get past page 20.
that being said, if the author could get his thoughts together and take a class on the English language, he might have something here....at the very least, something better than this.
*the editor of this book should be fired. immediately.
I couldn't get past page 20.
that being said, if the author could get his thoughts together and take a class on the English language, he might have something here....at the very least, something better than this.
*the editor of this book should be fired. immediately.
August 8, 2014
This is a classic example of why you have to read to the end. I was really close to stopping this book which is unheard of for me. Eventually I got sucked in and it started me thinking (thumbs up). Some good lines but not what I would call uber funny. The humour feels a little bit Douglas Adamsy. Overall not bad. Definitely gets better as you go through.
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