Dead Writers in Rehab

by Paul Bassett Davies

'It is dark, dirty, grim and confusing – in a very good way. It’s also warm, humane, funny and mischievous, and all the pages are in the right order' Jeremy Hardy

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 20, 2017

Reviews

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dead Writers in Rehab was totally insane. Nuts. Right out there and I absolutely loved it. Not only is it darkly witty and hilariously funny but also emotionally resonant and just downright cool.

If you like your literary heroes then this book is chock full of them. Possibly not as you would have imagined them but the author gives them clear and authentic voices and a touch of beautiful madness. The story told as it is in various ways (I’ll let you come to that by yourselves) becomes a bit of a page turner. There is mystery and romance and a whole host of laugh out loud moments, tempered by the very real emotional core of the novel that just grabs you by the heartstrings.

Dead Writers in Rehab kind of defies logic but makes perfect sense – a work of imaginative genius, you will literally enter this world and live in it. The only thing worse than waking up with a hangover from hell is waking up with a hangover IN hell. And there you have it.

I’m probably supposed to make comments about ambitious prose and relative reasoning but frankly who cares – Dead Writers in Rehab is one of the most entertaining reads of my year so far, I laughed, I nearly cried, it works on many many levels, defying genre and description it just IS. Brilliant. Clever. Whimsical. And often quite rude.

Whats not to love? NOTHING that’s what. Go get it!

Highly Recommended.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, here's a book that defies any form of categorisation, in fact it would just sit on a shelf all of its own in the bookshop, probably labelled 'one of a kind'.

I like strange, and I like different and I have a sense of humour that my friends describe as weird, in fact some of my friends describe it as sick. I like humour that makes me think and is clever. I don't like slapstick, I like The League of Gentlemen, and I really really like this book!

It's a mash-up of many voices; all of them very familiar to any book lover. We have Dorothy Parker alongside Ernest Hemingway amongst others, and these are all glued together by the author's own distinctive, and very insightful own voice.

Foster James wakes up in rehab. He's something of a lush, with a history of hard living that is now his downfall. However, this is no ordinary rehab clinic, this placed is populated by some of the greatest living authors of all times. Yes, they're dead, but so what? This author has taken each one of them and imagined their therapy journey, step by step. The humour is incessant, but there's also a whole lot of serious stuff woven into this story and at its heart, it's a story of people, and love and joy.

Dead Writers in Rehab kept me company whilst travelling and was the perfect anecdote to being stuck on a rainy A1 behind queues of lorries whilst the bloke tapped impatiently on the steering wheel muttering profanities! If you like quirky, and strangely funny and excellent writing, you will adore this one.

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[Elliott Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literarily ambitious, unendingly clever, emotionally gut-punching, and funny as hell.

Dead Writers in Rehab is a number of things that have to be described separately, although I want to stress that within the book itself they form an absolutely seamless whole in which all the diverse, strange ingredients reinforce and illuminate one another. First, it's an ambitious literary pastiche – in fact, eight or nine of them woven together – in which the author narrates his story in voices as varied as Dorothy Parker's, Hunter S. Thompson's, Ernest Hemingway's, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, and nails every one of them. It's a meditation on the ways in which not just addicts of various kinds, but human beings in general, can't seem to avoid sabotaging themselves and anything else that ever threatens to bring them happiness. It's an exploration of redemption and healing, but also about how even those things, if and when they come, might ultimately turn out to be illusory, self-serving or impermanent. And if any part of that sounds impossibly dreary, it also happens to be one of the funniest books you'll ever read.

Here is a thing I don't say lightly: Portions of this book are written in the imagined voice of Dorothy Parker, and the laugh lines in them are as good as hers would have been. The gentle tweaking of Hemingway, Doyle and several others is dead-on and hilarious. The many sections of the book written in Mr. Davies' own literary voice are equally brilliant, filled with hundreds of little insights you immediately wish you'd thought of yourself and clever lines you immediately want to steal. And it contains the best Samuel Taylor Coleridge joke since Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

All of the above, incidentally, is roughly what I'd been led to expect from this book going in. What I didn't expect – and don't wish to spoil by giving any hints whatsoever as to their specifics, beyond noting the fact that they exist – were several moments of astonishing emotional power that came sneaking in when I least expected them, including one which hit with such force that I found myself sitting back in my chair in a room by myself and literally applauding the words on the page. (And then had to step outside, smoke a cigarette and compose myself before I could continue reading.) I'll say no more about that one. When you reach it, you'll know it.

I can confidently say that you have never encountered a book quite like this one, and you really, really should. Like right now, today. If I haven't convinced you, just read the sample chapters on Amazon, and let the author do it himself. But know that the book gets even better after that. It's an amazing piece of work on every level.

[Beatbox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and amusing, with precisely the right amount of skillful sadness

After following Paul Bassett Davies (@thewritertype) on twitter for a few years, finally got to read Dead Writers in Rehab and this is the best book I read in many months.
The sarcasm, the irony and the self-deprecating hunour of his tweets are all there but I was awarded with so much more - after all, this is a book of fiction and not a tweet storm, although I had to put some effort and remind myself about it:)
I loved the premise and the story, I loved the contradiction in the protagonist - so human and so natural. I also liked the unusual portrayals of famous writers and this also sparked in me some belated interest to their books too.
Overall, this is a fantastic read and immensely entertaining book. Thank you, Paul Bassett Davies.

[Tim Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are books you wish you'd written (in my case, most of them), some you wish had been re-written (well, I do) and there are others you wish you'd never started reading.
This is a book I'd dearly love to have written. But I'd not have had the inspiration or the nerve or the virtuosity or ventriloquistic ability. Quite simply one of the most originally entertaining and well-written books I've read in a long time. Damn Paul for having written it before I had a chance to!

[Richie Brown]

A very ambitious undertaking to write authentically in the voice of several different dead writers that works in the main.

The medium of patient journals, internal memos and support group transcripts takes some getting used to but, as the story takes shape, the journals fall more into conventional narrative.

Recommended to bibliophiles!

[Fenella Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being dead, the writers in this comic novel bounce up and down on its pages with glorious, irreverent, decadent Life. As the protagonist Foster James, a second-rate novelist with a first-class degree in self-loathing, bumps up against its hilarious cast of narcissistic, literary giants (and their myriad addictions) we’re given a deliciously dirty treat stuffed full of sex, drugs and literary pastiche. Despite being laugh-out-loud funny, ultimately the novel is about love – how tough it is to give and receive love when the ghastly apparition of addiction hovers at your side just waiting for you to mess up by self-destructing . . . yet again. Twisty and turn-y, beautifully written, brilliantly comic, savagely dark.

[Jurgita · Rating 2 out of 5]

**SPOILERS**
It's the second fiction book published by Unbound that didn't deliver. Loved the premise, the first page and then everything started to fall apart. But that could be me 🤷 I wasn't interested any of the writers featured in the book. Hemingway was an absolute two-dimensional caricature. Not even the fire at the rehab facility excited the plot. And the plot twist in the last 10 pages was one of those "and then he woke up and everything was a dream." Unfortunately, I am incapable of DNFing books as I hope the end will be worth it. This was not. It gets 2 stars, as it had some entertaining passages.

[AT · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

- This book was not what I was expecting going in.
- I think the characters were fun and I especially enjoyed the different writing styles for the different scenes/characters (ie a transcript of the group therapy session; the formalness of Dr Watson's entries; the memos between our two therapists).
- This is one of those books that needs to be read right to the end in order for everything to make sense.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, but the portrayal of emotions in the book was over the top and over simplified in my opinion. Quite melodramatic. That ruined some parts of the book for me. A shame, because the story the book is telling, is quite good.

[Charles Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the start of Paul Bassett Davies new novel, Dead Writers in Rehab, Foster James wakes up to find himself indeed in rehab, to nobody's surprise, least of all his own. He's been in many such institutions in his time. But he’s not slow to realise there’s something rather odd about this one - which is hardly a spoiler, given the book’s title.

Perhaps the biggest clue is that the place is full of dead writers. Ernest Hemingway swaggers around trying to impress Dorothy Parker, who in turn seems intent on getting laid by all the available men. Coleridge, Hunter S Thompson, Colette, and more, are all mooching about, apparently very much alive - despite actually being decidedly deceased.

Step by step, we are drawn into a paranormal detective story. Why is Foster here? Where is he anyway? What’s actually going on? A story told, with great aplomb, in part through the hilarious email correspondence of his two therapists, who are clearly themselves in the throes of some conflicted and confused love affair.

To these tortured missives, Davies adds the clever device of having each character keep a therapy diary, which of course gives him a golden opportunity to spoof some very famous literary styles - an opportunity he grasps with enthusiasm and dazzling skill.

If I have one (tiny) cavil it’s that I would have liked the parodies to have spread wider. They’re such fun, you start to wonder what would have happened if the patients had included (say) Chaucer, Dickens and/or Raymond Chandler.

But that’s just me being greedy. Dead Writers in Rehab is a tour de force, a comedy with dark undertones and a pleasing nod towards one of my favourite British movies, which I can’t name because that would indeed be a spoiler.

The novel has been crowd-funded - by Unbound - and the edition I have is sumptuously produced, a tribute to crowd-funding, which I have to say I’ve never thought a lot about until now.

For them, Davies, a successful writer for TV and radio, has produced a worthy successor to his first novel, the highly enjoyable Utter Folly. I hope he stays out of Dead Writers’ Rehab long enough to write many more.

[Margot · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's ability to capture voices and mannerisms with such believability, while being dark and witty makes this book stand out from the current trends.

[Mia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Foster is an asshole, which he freely admits. I never found a reason to desire to continue reading his story so this ended up as a DNF. I felt nothing for him but annoyance.

The story itself doesn’t feel cohesive, either: more like a collection of moments in this afterlife rehab center than a single plot with subplots.

I did, however, appreciate the method of telling this story through multiple points of views via diary entries, memos, therapy transcripts, etc.

[Dorothy Gingell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Mad scenario where the main character (a disreputable but engaging rogue) finds himself sharing a rehab facility with famous dead writers. The first person journals are cleverly written in the recognisable styles of Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others. I found the exchanges of memos and reports between the therapists particularly poignant and amusing. A great read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing, clever, funny, irreverent, and challenging in places. What's not to like?! This book is a must for readers who like their comedy a bit dark. The hardback is also very lovely.

[Hella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik schreef er dit over: http://heldenreis.nl/2017/06/eindes

[Thelastwordreview · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read more books than I can remember over the years and yet here is one by Paul Bassett Davies that I cannot place into any genre. Dead Writers in Rehab deserves a genre all for itself. It is a literary wonder. A brilliant and clever piece of writing if I saw one. A novel that was funded by donations through Unbound.

The first thing I have to say about Dead Writers in Rehab is that when I was approached a while back about this book I was to be honest not at all sure what I would make of this book that I first thought was very strange. But I am so pleased I read Paul’s book. It is just fabulous. It has everything a reader is looking for. It is ambitious and entertaining in every sense. I really could not put this book down. A novel in which the key character Foster James awakes to find himself in a rehab. But this is no ordinary rehab. Imagine waking to find you are not just in a rehab but a rehab with dead authors. Now add voices to these dead authors such as Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemmingway, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Samuel Taylor Coleridge to name but a few. At firs the author who narrates his story is confused what is going on and is he really dead or sort of dead? I love humour in a story and this is one of the funniest books I have read in a long time. Even for Foster James his way of finding out and coming to terms with the famous dead writers he is sharing this place with is just brilliant. His past has always been troubled and is no stranger to institutions. Hard living comes with a price and he is now paying for it. As much as this is a book packed full of great wit and humour there is in the story a real story in itself. Foster James is a literary star himself so he should be at home among some of the literary greats who have long since died yet he does not know how or why he is here, but he is. Hidden in this outstanding novel is a story of people and of love and of life. There is much to this story than I am going to tell. You need to grab a copy and settle in for a weekend with a book that is just pure literary genius. Unique and different but one worth investing in. If you love books you will love Dead Writers in Rehab. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
400 Pages.

[Bill Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Please Do not Ask for Mercy, amazingly inventive, original and fascinating. While Dead Writers is certainly original and a bit of a page turner, I just didn't think it worked. I interesting idea, just, but it felt full of contradictions and leaps of faith. While Bassett Davies may feel, that the is reaching something fundamental about the human condition, there are insights, but only just. Using different major writers of the past 200 years is a hostage to fortune, not least trying to create a convincing pastiche of each author, they didn't work for me. And I have read some of them, from Wilkie Collins to Hunter S Thompson, but they didn't feel right. And in the end, the end just felt like a cop out as where else could you go with it. Definitely an author of great imagination and pushing the form as far as it can go. Sometimes it holds, but other times it just snaps.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s an interesting and original premise but I found the narrator quite irritating from early on. The novel is written as journal entries and therapy sessions and it runs at a good pace but it just felt like people screaming, then stopping to reflect on themselves and the going’s ons, in specifically writer-tones entries. Found it all a bit tiring by a bout halfway through. No one seemed to have a personality despite the many characters included.

Admit that I jumped to the end from just past halfway through and there’s a twist ending that I’m glad I didn’t stay with the book for, as it doesn’t really pay off the premise.

[Rusty · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good premise and begins very lively and funny. But the author fails to capture the voices or personalities of any of the authors present as characters, though he is plainly attempting to do so. The jokes begin to fall flat very quickly. The attempts at literary experimentation clouds the action rather than enhancing it. The melodrama becomes tiresome. A more tightly and more skillfully written book at half the length would have been brilliant.

[Martin Braunton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this because its premise is really quite brilliant. Dead Writers in Rehab is a paranormal detective story that features a protagonist in rehab with an interesting group of literary characters. Long since dead of course but brought to life here.
It was so nearly laugh out funny for me. Just didn't quite hit the mark. A fascinating parody though that I am sure many will delight in.

[Luciana Vichino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pelas resenhas eu esperava uma estória mais divertida. A leitura é leve e chega a ser gostosa, mas o suspense não se mantém e a graça não vem. É daquelas estórias que quando você acha que vão começar, mudam completamente de direção e no final fica difícil se envolver. Não posso dizer que não gostei, mas para quem esperava uma leitura divertida o final foi bem deprimente.

[Monica Petruskavich · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really well written with a morbid yet comical view of what happens after death may be like for a creative spirit. The end complimented the idea of how one may battle with regrets and feelings can sometimes be better expressed by actions alone. This is really interesting read and worth one's time.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book - really original, laugh out loud funny, and with some profound moments. Really kept me guessing and hooked, I read it very quickly.

I'm only giving it four as the ending - which I won't give away - disappointed me a bit. If it had ended differently, or maybe even just 20 pages sooner, it would be five.

Looking forward to reading more by this author.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The story is entertaining, if a bit (purposely) confusing, but the pacing is problematic--there are too many twists at the end--and the end end was a bit too sentimentally perfect, even for a hopeless sentimentalist like me. Notable--this book was published by Unbound, a by-subscription publisher that allows readers to support authors in writing the books they want to see.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The literary equivalent of a stand-up comedian whose only schtick is celebrity impressions. Any attempts to string them together into a solid, cohesive set fall flat because it’s so clearly an excuse to get in more impressions.

Some people like that sort of thing. I don’t.

One extra star because it’s a slightly novel concept (no pun intended).

[Elin · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Dead writers in rehab” is a book that I don’t want to spoil by saying too much. But if you pick up this one be prepared for twists and turns and a story you can’t foresee.

It’s a page turner and a great read!

[Mugren Ohaly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea, but the execution was troublesome. The famous writers who are characters in the book hardly sound like their true self. They either sound like the main character doing a bad impression or they’re stereotypical caricatures of the real thing.

[Laûrā · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book bar the ending. It really felt like a bit of an anti-climax, which annoyed me as the rest had been so good. Too many twists and fake endings in the last chapters for me. Still worth the read.

[Cynthia Magness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this

I'm very picky as to what I read, I require my authors deliver entertaining stories that engage me and characters that I care about. This author completely delivered and I'm looking forward to discovering his next work.