Charles McBride is fat. He's been through hell, hates everyone and he’s had enough. Now he's going on holiday - alone. But something is about to happen on the train through Italy, that will change his life forever.
“I giggled and snorted my way through Charles' story. I loved it, it's totally bonkers, but I loved it!” Anne Cater, Random Things Through My Letterbox.
Women might want him but they are not going to have him. Men might want him and they certainly aren't going to have him! Charles is in a temper about everything. He’s going to the seaside fashion capital of Tuscany and he’s stopped holding his stomach in, he’s lost his favourite underwear and he's dressed to kill - or at least cut off his blood supply.
“Amusing and excruciatingly embarrassing at the same time with an underlying story of love and betrayal and interspersed with Williams’ wicked humour. Guaranteed to keep you entertained throughout. Five Stars.” Tracy Fenton, The Book Club.
The author of The Blackheath Seance Parlour brings you a new character that might just prove more popular than the formidable alcoholics that tore apart victorian London.
“The writing sings. Wonderfully bonkers with imagination that is so amazingly off the wall. This is funny, poignant, whimsical and so sweet.” Elizabeth Forbes, author.
“Hotel Du Lac meets Death in the Afternoon with a little Tales of the City thrown in. Poignantly funny and cleverly observed. Long live Charles - may he have many more adventures.” Paul Wise, Kitchen Delights
Why not join Charles now as he sips a drink in a little Italian bar and lets out one of those holiday sighs that relinquishes all the stresses and concerns of life back home. His holiday is about to begin.
Alan Williams worked as a script editor for the BBC, working on Absolutely Fabulous, Birds of a Feather and Keeping up Appearances amongst others. He went on to edit Writers' Monthly and now publishes two influential films and television magazines. He lives in Blackheath, London, has won awards for his short stories, and includes dieting and chocolate éclairs as his hobbies.
The Irritatingly Erotic Adventures of Charles McBride by Alan Williams was published as an ebook at the beginning of August 2016. I don't own an e-reader, I don't usually read ebooks. However, ever since I read Alan Williams' novel The Blackheath Seance Parlour in October 2013, I've been desperate to read more of his work. This novella is just a short read at around 40 pages, I read it on my phone and snorted and chuckled the whole way through it.
I'm not going to re-tell the story, why would I when this author has already done it so very well? What I'd like to happen is that people will go to Amazon and download it, it's just £2.31 at the time of writing - less than a decent cup of artisan coffee for goodness sake. I assure you, you will not be disappointed ..... well, you won't if you like totally off-the-wall, absolutely bonkers story-telling that features characters who will amaze you and tickle all of your fancies whilst entertaining you and making you smile.
It's rude, it's damn funny, it's perfectly put together. Join Charles as he returns to a favourite holiday spot. He's sure that he knows just what's in store for him ............... are you?
I giggled and snorted my way through Charles' story. I loved it, it's totally bonkers, but I loved it!
Well that wasn't what I expected in this book, oh Charles I feel so poorly for him and how his ex wife treated him. Strange how an experience can change you.
I was drawn to this novella when I saw how many reviews used the word Bonkers! Well it was utterly bonkers and funny, lol funny at times and also embarrassingly cringey at the same time.
This blurb clinched it for me: Women might want him but they are not going to have him. Men might want him and they certainly aren’t going to have him! Charles is in a temper about everything. He’s going to the seaside fashion capital of Tuscany and he’s stopped holding his stomach in, he’s lost his favourite underwear and he’s dressed to kill or at least cut off his blood supply.
Charles McBride was fat, 50 years old, hated everyone and had been through a painful divorce to a woman he had come to hate and so he went on holiday to a place he had been going to since he was a boy, a place that brought him peace. Something happens on the train through Italy that changes his life forever.
The story is so imaginative and at times poignant and when we find out what Charles had been through and the betrayal at the hands of the wife he came to hate my heart broke for him, I hated her too!
I’m hoping that Charles has many more bonkers adventures.
…Her laugh echoed across the garden allowing him to accurately pinpoint her position and distance. If he had carried a gun he would have tried to shoot her front teeth out…
We all have our favourite bolthole, and for Charles McBride it's a quietly stylish corner of Italy where Martinis are as much for table decoration as drinking, and immaculately clad women disappear upstairs with waiters before returning to their table for a breadstick. This is the world that fat and fifty-year-old Charles returns to after a ghastly divorce. It's a brief novella so I won't give any more away, suffice it to say that a misplaced suitcase is the catalyst for him to take a different view of life - and for life to take a different view of him! Fun, funny and written with a delightful turn of phrase. I really enjoyed it, all the more so for reading start to finish in a day.
Eh. Either it went right over my head, or I understood it perfectly but didn’t find it funny or notably bonkers (a word used twice in the blurbs). Might give "The Blackheath Seance Parlor" a look, because some writers are better when they have more room to work in.
Well, what do I say? I loved Alan William's The Black Heath Séance Parlour so have been waiting for more. When this, admittedly short at only 40 pages, novella appeared, I just had to buy it. I read it over coffee - which was almost spilled a few times! Utterly fabulous and utterly bonkers, this is funny, rude, completely off the wall and just what I was hoping for. More please Mr Williams!