A Dog Called Demolition

by Robert Rankin

Danny is not sad and lonely any more, because he has "the voice"—the voice of an imaginary dog called Demolition. The dog tells him what to do, like how to adjust the bar code reader in the shop so he can read what people are thinking. Soon, Danny can bend others to his will, and fears no other man.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

"When Robert Rankin embarked upon his writing career in the late 1970s, his ambition was to create an entirely new literary genre, which he named Far-Fetched Fiction. He reasoned that by doing this he could avoid competing with any other living author in any known genre and would be given his own special section in WH Smith."
(from Web Site Story)

Robert Rankin describes himself as a teller of tall tales, a fitting description, assuming that he isn't lying about it. From his early beginnings as a baby in 1949, Robert Rankin has grown into a tall man of some stature. Somewhere along the way he experimented in the writing of books, and found that he could do it rather well. Not being one to light his hide under a bushel, Mister Rankin continues to write fine novels of a humorous science-fictional nature.

Reviews

[Emmalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was…. Ok. It was all over the place in places and enjoyable in places. The court case at the end made sense though.

[Lori Whitwam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I usually love Robert Rankin, but this book never got off the ground for me. Too scattered, the whole concept of the "dog" never amounts to much, and the characters didn't spark.

[D.A. Cairns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having previously read Knees Up Mother Earth by the same author, I was quickly reminded of the style and immediately visited my review. I feel the same comments apply to A Dog Called Demolition, so I am going to imaginatively copy and paste a little. (to be denoted by "_") "Whilst I appreciated the craft of the author and the novelty of the concept, including footnoting which I've never seen in a work of fiction before", and poetry at the beginning of each chapter,"this book did not really do it for me."

The main character, Danny Orion, is a sympathetic plodder who becomes an unlikely hero with the help of his associate Micky Merlin. Caught in circumstances way beyond their imaginations, involving aliens, magic and a government conspiracy, they stumble through a series of wacky adventures. "There were times of suspense, and once the basic complication was established by the author, Rankin, there was no question of me being anything other than seriously intent on finding out how it would ultimately be resolved.

With intent, Rankin allows the narrative to drift off in tangents, "and my interest waned but never for too long. I only ever smiled at the ubiquitous one liners and slapstick action, and at times I was irritated by the repetition of words and phrases even though I knew it was deliberately designed for comedic effect. It was a fun read reminiscent of Craske's 'Above His Station' which I liked better.

A very offbeat and probably funny story with an unlikely yet appealing premise. Not a serious read, but a little bit of fun for everyone." Nice escapist fiction. I gave Demolition four stars so I guess I liked it it a little more than Knees Up Mother earth.

[Stoneme Mayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow this one having read better Robert Rankin books but as the blurb says "The more you read him the funnier he becomes." How true.

[Joseph Teller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neither the best of his books, nor his worst, it still has lots of interesting bits and material as well as some of the old Brentford crew doing their walk ons.

[Martin Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Put aside all preconceptions, expectations and prejudices, just enjoy the ride!

[Phil Leader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the story of Danny, a young man who has always wanted a dog but has never been allowed one. So he builds one himself, a path that will eventually lead to him discovering a horrifying truth about the world.

This book is full-on Robert Rankin, meaning that unless you have read a few of his books and are used to his writing style and in-jokes a lot of this one will just make no sense (although making sense is never the aim of a Rankin book). The plot is a slight one to hang a whole novel off of and so there is a lot of inconsequential writing around the main story. Enjoying this book relies on the reader enjoying passing the time with these bits when the main plot isn't going anywhere. I enjoy spending time with Rankin's writing so enjoy the book. Others may feel otherwise.

So the book itself is full of the usual Rankin nonsense, walk on parts of characters from other books, repeated phrases and general strangeness. It's not brilliantly funny but it's pretty amusing.

Also worth noting is Danny's cameo in another book, which casts a whole different light in what might really be going on in this one.

[Simon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my first foray into the literature of Robert Rankin. And it did not get off to a good start. Once again, I decided to listen to rather than read the offering of Kindle Unlimited. This time, reading might have provided a bit more lenient judgement on the book, though.
To make a long rant short - I did not like it. Mostly, this is due to Rankin's writing style, at least in this book. However, the story itself did not captivate me at all. It started way to late, got off on various uninteresting (and unnecessary) tangents, then got convoluted very quickly, and finally ended in an implosion of "what the...?". I don't mind anticlimactic endings, if they are well-done. Here, it was quite disappointing...
That said, I will give Rankin another chance or two. Maybe those will fare better than this one.

[Andrew Lawston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A relatively slim volume from Robert Rankin, in which young Brentfordian Danny Orion seeks to change his life, and ends up at the heart of a global alien conspiracy. I enjoyed this one a lot, especially the earlier chapters that alternated between Danny's story and short, apparently-unrelated, tales of the peculiar.

I'd not heard much about this one before reading it, but in many ways it was an unexpected delight.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comic fantasy with enough genuinely amusing scenarios to overcome occasional slow passages in this colourful story ostensibly of a talking dog who advises Danny his rather dim owner (although there’s not really much of a plot). With a quotation and a poem at the start of each chapter, footnotes and a bit of magic it’s a rather idiosyncratic story that generally works. 3.5-4 stars.

[Stephen Toman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not read this in a while but think it’s time for another one. Easily my favourite Rankin.

[Chrissy Boulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply one of the most bizarre, insane, wonderful, and funniest books I have ever read.

[Dutch Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

invisible beings controlling humans. Danny Orion hapless serial killer. parton vrane part cockroach mostly human. Mickey Merlin magician? the gentleman pulling the strings. plus more

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, if a bit all over the place, but I really hated the ending.

[John Love IV · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like weird but this was disjointed as well. Parts were great. Other parts, not so much.

The author basically said it wouldn't fit together. He was right.

3 stars for the good parts.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

What. The. Fuck.
I'm all for weird shit. But this one takes the cake.
I had a hard time with the ending too.
Listened to the audio book and the narrators accent started to grate on me.

[Lucas Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of Rankin’s “series of unrelated vignettes that eventually becomes a plot” books, but this one’s held back by the gruesome nature of its subject matter.

[Anna Kristín · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Mjög skrítin bók. Ég hló upphátt nokkrum sinnum sem gerði það verkum að ég hélt áfram að hlusta. Höfundur les sjálfur og þetta er 5 stjörnu upplestur.

[Rose Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surrealism, silly puns, and supernatural horrors - classic Rankin.
Devoured this in a single sitting.
Now to listen to the soundtrack...

[Nagy Tibi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Rankin is so underrated and so so hilarious.

[Lisa Gamble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love how the author writes the common people of this story and how they react to the absurd. It was a wild ride, and I was there for every moment of it.

[Colin Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonkers! Barmy! ... but a lot of fun, and considerably more coherent than the last Rankin novel I read. (The Greatest Show Off Earth)

All the trademark feature of Rankin's writing: daft puns, running jokes and liberal smashing of the fourth wall.

The audio book version was available through (a free trial of) Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, read by the author himself, and he does a good job of it.

A fun diversion!

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for the uninitiated.
I admit that I struggled with this as a 12 year old boy. Having only read the Cornelius Murphy books this one is a bit of a shocker. However, a re-read in my 20's led me to believe that this is one of Robert's finest works.

How do I begin to explain this? There are a series of short stories involving people suddenly acting very strangely, and all mentioning a bandaged left foot. Then a longer bit of story about a man who discovers all people are controlled by invisible creatures that sit on their shoulders and ply their brains with their fingertips, but this also includes other seemingly unrelated short stories and bandaged left feet. We are promised that we will learn the occult significance of the bandaged left foot.

It is a brilliant, brilliant mess. There are threads waving wildly about narrowly missing one another, as well as a very condensed version of one of his first three books. Needs to be read to be believed, but preferably after consuming at least 8 other Rankin books to get your brain on the right wavelength.
It is possible that I love it just for the ending....

[M.G. Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite possibly the most bizarre of Rankin's work I have read so far. His stuff is usually slightly surreal but this doesn't so much tiptoe into the bizarre as go striding in and delight in its own peculiarity.

As a result, this novel will come across to most people as confusing and messy with laughs that are few and far between. Despite its short length (a tad over 300 pages) it is a difficult read that makes it difficult to care about anybody or anything. It also seems to lack overall direction at times with little asides into separate short stories.

The story revolves around Danny who hears the voice of a dog in his head who tells him to do things, some that are bizarre and others that are illegal. As the plot develops it turns out a part parody on conspiracy theories and part alien invasion paranoia story with a few strange asides in between.

Not one of my favourites.

See more book reviews at my blog

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this book as an introduction to Robert Rankin. I read it. That's probably the best that can be said. It's a nice science fantasy idea but the execution of the no beginning, middle and end story just doesn't work. I didn't really get to care about any of the characters, except perhaps the one who died near the beginning (at the end of the beginning?)
Some of the 'music hall' humour was out of place, some of the other humour has already dated. The ending was more Monty Python than a fantasy story, and so hugely disappointing.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet again, residents of the Brentford triangle save the world!

I want to go to live in Brentford and drink at the Flying Swan - Such weird and wonderful things happen there! And who would have thought that allotments could be such exciting places?

[Tim Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly weak Rankin. There isn't anything particularly wrong with it, there just isn't anything that makes it jump out from the pack. It was nice to see cameos by Jim Pooley, Archroy and a few others. Worth a read if you're a Rankin fan, but not essential.

[WesY2K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not Rankin's best book but still enjoyable. This one isn't a good book for new Rankin readers. You have to know some things about him/his books to really enjoy it.

[Bonnie Doyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

one of the only books that i just couldn't finish

[Webcowgirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quirky fun read, a bit too much poetry and a sloooow start but came together nicely in the end.