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Terence is sick of people making a fuss of Alexander. His looks. His money. His fame. Who wouldn't resent so successful a son? Even if he is only ten years old. Joseph Connolly's brilliant new comedy of manners weaves together a domestic tableaux of characters - those with old-fashioned manners, tabloid manners, and no manners at all - in a satire on oedipal envy, neighbourly rivalry and the shameless stupidity of our fame-fuelled society.
496 pages, Paperback
First published March 5, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 3, 2018
Well -- I read it to the end, which was something considering how many superfluous words are in here .. I must admit I skimmed a fair bit of it.
In its favour there is a funny story in here, and some great character observations.
Connolly's eye for modern attitudes is sharp and interesting.
Against it .. reading stream-of-consciousness thoughts of shallow people is a bit boring, especially when Connolly chooses to replicate very similar thought processes.
I also didn't find the non-standard English speaker's dialect to be convincing, if you are going to do a non-SE dialect, make it REAL, was my constant thought as I tracked her random grammar through the pages.
So it was OK, great idea and interesting structure etc. With some tighter editorial control and focus it could have been far more successful and far funnier because the humour would not have been bogged down it too much day-to-day detritus. I suppose that if you are the sort of person who can be entertained by watching people asleep in reality TV like Big Brother you can cope with the dreary stuff, but it didn't work for me.
In its favour there is a funny story in here, and some great character observations.
Connolly's eye for modern attitudes is sharp and interesting.
Against it .. reading stream-of-consciousness thoughts of shallow people is a bit boring, especially when Connolly chooses to replicate very similar thought processes.
I also didn't find the non-standard English speaker's dialect to be convincing, if you are going to do a non-SE dialect, make it REAL, was my constant thought as I tracked her random grammar through the pages.
So it was OK, great idea and interesting structure etc. With some tighter editorial control and focus it could have been far more successful and far funnier because the humour would not have been bogged down it too much day-to-day detritus. I suppose that if you are the sort of person who can be entertained by watching people asleep in reality TV like Big Brother you can cope with the dreary stuff, but it didn't work for me.
November 15, 2018
Facts about Joe:
1. Joe has never met a working class person. Forced to endure a trip to Lidl in search of inspiration for his junk food menu for the proles he wore ear plugs lest their voices sully his precious ears.
2. No less than 10 editors were sacked for suggesting the book needed a plot and to be cut down somewhat.
3. Joe lives in an ivory tower made from recycled piano keys from country estates.
4. In his spare time he likes to secretly edit Heat and visit champagne shops because you can never have enough champagne.
1. Joe has never met a working class person. Forced to endure a trip to Lidl in search of inspiration for his junk food menu for the proles he wore ear plugs lest their voices sully his precious ears.
2. No less than 10 editors were sacked for suggesting the book needed a plot and to be cut down somewhat.
3. Joe lives in an ivory tower made from recycled piano keys from country estates.
4. In his spare time he likes to secretly edit Heat and visit champagne shops because you can never have enough champagne.
November 17, 2019
Falls way short of the authors ambitions I would have thought, and the vernacular speech of Dolly, the only person in the world other than Del Trotter to use the word "blimey", is particularly weak. Even so it is quite entertaining.
December 15, 2025
1.5 ⭐️
could’ve been an interesting story idea, but the execution is so bad. the portrayal of the two working class characters was a particular lowlight - really inauthentic and quite offensive imo. pretty sure the author has never interacted with a working class person in their lives lol
could’ve been an interesting story idea, but the execution is so bad. the portrayal of the two working class characters was a particular lowlight - really inauthentic and quite offensive imo. pretty sure the author has never interacted with a working class person in their lives lol
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews