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Nancy Boy: for one year only...
A new dawn approaches – “the real out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new,” deems Emmaline; “the shedding of crinkly baggage.” What with a tired and tested Conservative party spiralling downward, and the emergence of a New Labour drawing near, the writing is on the wall; things, as they’d say in time, could only get better. And how better might this majestic isle express herself than by her ever innovative musical sons! Oasis? Blur? The ’80s are gone and good riddance to them, that’s what Phillip thinks! Or he would, were he to think at all. Yes, Phillip Rowlings is back… all grown up. Save that he couldn’t give a garlic snail about emerging British dawns – he wants out. And has invested years applying himself to that end – he’s heard the calls, conveyed, of all the eccentric ideas, by T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, and Blind Date’s Cilla Black… France. 1994-’95: ex-Soul boy goes Nancy Boy, for the one year only… And while it all looks lovely on the brochure, “poor Phillip”, as someone once said, may not be as skilled as Emmaline in the shedding of crinkly baggage. Further to which – and here lies the real question, a paradox for one and BY THE DREAD OF LOSING LOVE, CAN A MAN COME TO ACQUIRE MORE THAN A LIFE’S WORTH? Yours to find out. But let’s get one thing clear from the outset – dès le départ, as they say in the old hexagon – this isn’t A Year in Provence…
230 pages, Paperback
Published July 16, 2016
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 24, 2017
I’m a huge fan of Chris Rose’s excellent novel, Wood, Talc, & Mr. J, so when I learned that he’d continued the saga of protagonist and anti-hero Phillip Rowlings, I couldn’t wait to read it.
In Nancy Boy, the author uses his signature impressionist wordsmith style to paint the story of Phillip’s years after the end of the first novel. On a park bench in France, our hero brings us up to speed as he reflects on his life thus far. In France for a year as a student, he’s unhappily wed to a woman back in England, he’s an absentee father, and he’s juggling a number of lovers on both sides of the water. And it’s on that park bench that he meets Anne, the love of his life. At least for the moment. It seems that no one ever measures up to Nathalie (with an h), the one who got away.
When he receives news that his beloved father has died, Phillip does a bit of (shallow) soul searching. And when he returns to England for the funeral, he has his therapist/lover accompany his to some of his old haunts—the bowling alley where he used to steal shoes for dancing, the club where he once danced all night in a drug-fueled haze. And he realizes that you can’t go back. But then, we knew that at the end of the first book.
While Phillip lives in the moment, you feel that his eyes are always on the door, watching for the next thing. It seems he always has the sense that he’s missing out on something. There are times when you don’t know whether to feel sad for him, or slap him silly.
By the end of the book, his time in France has come to a close, and he’s back in England, settled into something resembling a reasonable life. But you know his eyes are still on the door.
Once again, in impressionist style, Chris Rose does what all great novelists do—he makes us feel something. In the end matter, he says that he’s at work on a sequel, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what the future holds for our hero, Phillip Rowlings. This book is highly recommended—5 ENTHUSIASTIC STARS!
In Nancy Boy, the author uses his signature impressionist wordsmith style to paint the story of Phillip’s years after the end of the first novel. On a park bench in France, our hero brings us up to speed as he reflects on his life thus far. In France for a year as a student, he’s unhappily wed to a woman back in England, he’s an absentee father, and he’s juggling a number of lovers on both sides of the water. And it’s on that park bench that he meets Anne, the love of his life. At least for the moment. It seems that no one ever measures up to Nathalie (with an h), the one who got away.
When he receives news that his beloved father has died, Phillip does a bit of (shallow) soul searching. And when he returns to England for the funeral, he has his therapist/lover accompany his to some of his old haunts—the bowling alley where he used to steal shoes for dancing, the club where he once danced all night in a drug-fueled haze. And he realizes that you can’t go back. But then, we knew that at the end of the first book.
While Phillip lives in the moment, you feel that his eyes are always on the door, watching for the next thing. It seems he always has the sense that he’s missing out on something. There are times when you don’t know whether to feel sad for him, or slap him silly.
By the end of the book, his time in France has come to a close, and he’s back in England, settled into something resembling a reasonable life. But you know his eyes are still on the door.
Once again, in impressionist style, Chris Rose does what all great novelists do—he makes us feel something. In the end matter, he says that he’s at work on a sequel, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what the future holds for our hero, Phillip Rowlings. This book is highly recommended—5 ENTHUSIASTIC STARS!
November 2, 2017
The author has an extraordinary style of writing, the like of which I haven’t read before. That isn’t to say the whimsical, lyrical writing doesn’t exist in other books – I just haven’t come across it before, and it was an enlightening experience. Reading the book is like doing a jigsaw puzzle, fitting all the bits together to make a complete picture. It’s clever, intelligent, full of highbrow references which, I’m afraid, usually go completely over my head. Regardless of that it is enjoyable, funny, understandable and brilliantly constructed, once I got used to various oddities in the way it’s presented, including the use of quotation marks.
The tale follows the ruminations of Phillip Rowlings as he sits on his French bench contemplating his hedonistic past, unsettled present and precarious future, focusing on his exploits and life-learning experiences with a bevy of French beauties and muses. Foremost among those is Anne, a young woman whose tolerance is astonishing. Does she really exist or is she a fantasy of the author’s imagination? That puzzled me throughout the book and I was no clearer by the end of it than I had been at the beginning, but I very much enjoyed the journey anyway.
I don’t actually feel qualified to make much more comment on this book as I felt it was, at times, beyond my comprehension of the nuances, quotes and asides to the reader: however, I recommend this to anybody looking for immersion in a tale that is both unusual, funny and leaning heavily towards the highbrow, several cuts above the average.
The tale follows the ruminations of Phillip Rowlings as he sits on his French bench contemplating his hedonistic past, unsettled present and precarious future, focusing on his exploits and life-learning experiences with a bevy of French beauties and muses. Foremost among those is Anne, a young woman whose tolerance is astonishing. Does she really exist or is she a fantasy of the author’s imagination? That puzzled me throughout the book and I was no clearer by the end of it than I had been at the beginning, but I very much enjoyed the journey anyway.
I don’t actually feel qualified to make much more comment on this book as I felt it was, at times, beyond my comprehension of the nuances, quotes and asides to the reader: however, I recommend this to anybody looking for immersion in a tale that is both unusual, funny and leaning heavily towards the highbrow, several cuts above the average.
February 23, 2017
Another Classic Read by Mr. Rose.
In this sequel, Philip is married with a young son, but it takes him quitting his job, several meetings with his psychiatrist, a rendezvous on his favourite park bench, a theatrical performance (of more than one kind) and a year living in Nancy, France in order for him to decide where he wants to be in life and who with.
Although, a few readers will envy Philip, for the way, he is able to attract the opposite sex, others will feel annoyed with him for not valuing what he already has in life. However, one thing is for sure, whatever your stance on the situation; you won't help but feel pity for Philip when his beloved father dies.
In this sequel, Philip is married with a young son, but it takes him quitting his job, several meetings with his psychiatrist, a rendezvous on his favourite park bench, a theatrical performance (of more than one kind) and a year living in Nancy, France in order for him to decide where he wants to be in life and who with.
Although, a few readers will envy Philip, for the way, he is able to attract the opposite sex, others will feel annoyed with him for not valuing what he already has in life. However, one thing is for sure, whatever your stance on the situation; you won't help but feel pity for Philip when his beloved father dies.
February 23, 2017
Another Classic Read by Mr. Rose.
In this sequel, Philip is married with a young son, but it takes him quitting his job, several meetings with his psychiatrist, a rendezvous on his favourite park bench, a theatrical performance (of more than one kind) and a year living in Nancy, France in order for him to decide where he wants to be in life and who with.
Although, a few readers will envy Philip, for the way, he is able to attract the opposite sex, others will feel annoyed with him for not valuing what he already has in life. However, one thing is for sure, whatever your stance on the situation; you won't help but feel pity for Philip when his beloved father dies.
In this sequel, Philip is married with a young son, but it takes him quitting his job, several meetings with his psychiatrist, a rendezvous on his favourite park bench, a theatrical performance (of more than one kind) and a year living in Nancy, France in order for him to decide where he wants to be in life and who with.
Although, a few readers will envy Philip, for the way, he is able to attract the opposite sex, others will feel annoyed with him for not valuing what he already has in life. However, one thing is for sure, whatever your stance on the situation; you won't help but feel pity for Philip when his beloved father dies.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews