I just can’t help loving these books. Totally irreverent humour start to finish. Like a kids’ version of a Robert Rankin.
But it is the wordplay that wins hands down every time. If you’re going to read a Mr Gum book, read it out loud. You must, you really must. My voice choices for the characters are (might help, might not):
Polly - squeaky, broad cockney (think Del Boy trotter sucking a helium balloon)
Friday - broad Irish
Alan Taylor - public school master Received Pronunciation
Billy - generic bad guy thug voice
Mr Gum - The Hitcher from Mighty Boosh
A little word of warning for this particular story: there are gratuitous scenes of raw meat and offal abuse which are a tad graphic and likely to offend vegetarians.
More importantly, though… does the ending of this novel spell the end of Mr Gum?
The first ending, I mean, not one of the other, later endings.