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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 22, 2025
[Macmillan London] (1987). HB/DJ. 1/1. Signed (for Justin Wintle (1949-)), inscribed and dated (“Nov 27th 1987”). With a postcard from the author to the book’s recipient loosely inserted. 260 Pages. Purchased from the World’s End Bookshop.
Inconsistently engaging.
A jaded, sardonic, unflinching eye settles upon a small group of British residents.
The protagonist - Derek Love (17) - is a shallow, selfish, perverted ignoramus.
Characterisation is mostly cartoonish.
In the spirit of David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” (1986), society’s ‘sub-veneer’ mire is drawn to the forefront - the ‘dark underbelly’ laid bare.
Sneeringly disdainful.
Grimly funny, in places.
There’s the odd sparkling turn of phrase:
“A shattering sob broke out of him. The noise startled him - like a dinosaur disengaging itself from a bog…” (p. 206.)
“Monday morning broke like an egg. Bob Dashman was sunny side up.” (p. 209.)
Unpalatable - most likely - by design.
There are hints of a misfiring Martin Amis in places - for instance - in the puerile, repulsive treatment of matters sexual and preoccupation with flatulence.
As a whole, often revolting, boring rubbish.
Various errors slipped through the proof-checking phase.
Inconsistently engaging.
A jaded, sardonic, unflinching eye settles upon a small group of British residents.
The protagonist - Derek Love (17) - is a shallow, selfish, perverted ignoramus.
Characterisation is mostly cartoonish.
In the spirit of David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” (1986), society’s ‘sub-veneer’ mire is drawn to the forefront - the ‘dark underbelly’ laid bare.
Sneeringly disdainful.
Grimly funny, in places.
There’s the odd sparkling turn of phrase:
“A shattering sob broke out of him. The noise startled him - like a dinosaur disengaging itself from a bog…” (p. 206.)
“Monday morning broke like an egg. Bob Dashman was sunny side up.” (p. 209.)
Unpalatable - most likely - by design.
There are hints of a misfiring Martin Amis in places - for instance - in the puerile, repulsive treatment of matters sexual and preoccupation with flatulence.
As a whole, often revolting, boring rubbish.
Various errors slipped through the proof-checking phase.
March 15, 2024
"Underneath the seemingly settled world of a unnamed North London suburb there are dark and terrible passions barely under control and concealment and into this world seventeen year old Derek Love, a distant and suddenly orphaned relative from a far poorer and rougher part of London of one of the suburbanites, arrives. His knowing innocence and, like that of many an adolescent, is that catalyst that causes all those hidden pressures to boil over and explode..." From the jacket of the hardback edition of this novel.
A marvellous comic and disturbing masterpiece which is enjoyable and shocking and like all Fallowell's writing is neglected and unread. This is a book to rediscover (I have recently reread and enjoyed it just as much as the first time) because the hollow icons and absurdities of suburban life may change, but its ripeness for destruction and chaos is as true as ever.
Treat yourself - copies of this are not expensive (in fact shamefully inexpensive) - buy it, read it, enjoy and go onto his other books.
A marvellous comic and disturbing masterpiece which is enjoyable and shocking and like all Fallowell's writing is neglected and unread. This is a book to rediscover (I have recently reread and enjoyed it just as much as the first time) because the hollow icons and absurdities of suburban life may change, but its ripeness for destruction and chaos is as true as ever.
Treat yourself - copies of this are not expensive (in fact shamefully inexpensive) - buy it, read it, enjoy and go onto his other books.
February 26, 2016
In a north London suburb the world is at peace. Pam Drake plans the evening menu while her husband Gordon, the local solicitor, sweats in the sauna on his way home from the office. Into this harmonious environment erupts Derek Love, 17, breaking the calm with forebodings of disaster.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews