The Great Pursuit

by Tom Sharpe

Hilarious send-up of the publishing industry. The gullible author of a totally filthy novel, sure to make a shameful pile of money in America, is dispatched across the Atlantic for a chaotic publicity tour.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Satire, Comedy, British Literature, Literature, Contemporary

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Tom Sharpe was an English satirical author, born in London and educated at Lancing College and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. After National Service with the Royal Marines he moved to South Africa in 1951, doing social work and teaching in Natal, until deported in 1961.

His work in South Africa inspired the novels Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure. From 1963 until 1972 he was a History lecturer at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, which inspired his "Wilt" series Wilt, The Wilt Alternative, Wilt on High and Wilt in Nowhere.

His novels feature bitter and outrageous satire of the apartheid regime (Riotous Assembly and its sequel Indecent Exposure), dumbed- or watered-down education (the Wilt series), English class snobbery (Ancestral Vices, Porterhouse Blue, Grantchester Grind), the literary world (The Great Pursuit), political extremists of all stripes, political correctness, bureaucracy and stupidity in general. Characters may indulge in bizarre sexual practices, and coarser characters use very graphic and/or profane language in dialogue. Sharpe often parodies the language and style of specific authors commonly associated with the social group held up for ridicule. Sharpe's bestselling books have been translated into many languages.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell]

There’s a hilarious skit from the Monty Python boys where Graham Chapman is wearing the peaked cap and uniform of an army colonel from the waist up along with a ballerina’s tutu and pink leotards. The comedy is all in the contrast.

Likewise, in novelist Tom Sharpe's 1977 The Great Pursuit, the fun and funniness derive from stark contrasts, the disparity of opposites brought together in outrageous and ingenious combinations.

The story revolves around the publishing industry, novel writing and literary theory. Like so many novelists from Henry James to Vladimir Nabokov, from Mario Vargas Llosa to John Gardner and Milan Kundera, in The Great Pursuit, Tom Sharpe likewise turns his attention to the process of writing itself.

Of course, we are taking about the king of extreme Monty Pythonesque British satire here, so all the many unexpected shifts and sudden reversals are best left to the reader to discover. Thus I’ll say nary a word about plot development; rather, here's a quartet of ingredients that makes Tom Sharpe's stinging stew delectable:

PRUDE AND PORNOGRAPHY
London literary agent Frensic seizes an opportunity to make a fortune by pushing a pornographic trash novel about a love and lust affair between a seventeen-year-old boy and an eighty-year-old woman a la Harold and Maude. Alack, a dilemma: the author of this piece of commercial crap doesn’t want to be identified. But the London and especially the American publisher need a writer to take a blockbuster publicity tour to launch the book which could sell copies in the millions.

Frensic knows just the man for the job - prudish, mousy, no talent novelist wannabe Peter Piper who has been slugging away for years on his own turgid, unpublishable autobiographical tome, Search for a Lost Childhood, featuring “significant relationships” and high-minded morals. Piper reluctantly agrees to go along with this charade since Frensic will have Search published after Piper's successful tour as author of pornographic Pause O Men For The Virgin.

STRANGLE HOLD ON ART
A Tom Sharpe major spoof is on the literary theory of F.R. Leavis, an early to mid-20th century British critic proscribing harsh moral codes and proposing "The Great Tradition" of Jane Austen, Henry James, and Joseph Conrad, meanwhile judging Charles Dickens, Laurence Sterne and Thomas Hardy as "mere entertainers."

And what where some of the reactions of creative writers and thinkers at the time? Poet Edith Sitwell described Leavis as "a tiresome, whining, pettyfogging little pipsqueak." Stephen Fry called him a "sanctimonious prick of only parochial significance." Meanwhile, for Peter Piper, Leavis is a god worthy of veneration. Piper's guide for writing is The Moral Novel by Sydney Louth based on Leavis' theory.

Tom Sharpe has a merry old time exposing the ways in which such moralizing and uppity intentions ring the death toll for the imagination and smother vitality both in writing and in life. One can imagine F.R. Leavis (1895-1978) wrinkling his nose and shaking his head if he ever read a Tom Sharpe novel.

PIFFLING POOPSTICK PUBLISHING PEOPLE
Publishing houses on both sides of the Atlantic are targets for the author's lampoon-harpoons. The disregard for literary standards in favor of moneymaking is chiefly personified by an American (of course!) - Hutchmeyer, a semi-illiterate, bigmouth, blustering mogul, a sort of cross between Donald Trump and Bozo the Clown with a reputation as "the Al Capone of publishing."

One of the more rollicking parts of the novel is Piper's interactions with Hutchmeyer. "Inflame their sexual fantasies?" yelled Hutchmeyer, interrupting this quotation from The Moral Novel. "You sit there and tell me you don't hold with books that inflame their readers' sexual fantasies when you've written the filthiest book since Last Exit?"

LAND OF THE FREE AND SLEEZY
In addition to poking a finger in the eye of America’s crude commercialism, many are the zingers hurled at the people living in the USA - an uncouth, shallow, violent, philistine, bigoted lot we are to be sure and Tom Sharpe takes no Yankee prisoners.

The cheapness and tawdriness of Americans is personified by Hutchmeyer’s wife, Baby. Baby has had every square inch of her face, chin, boobs and sundry parts of her aging body treated to plastic surgery and other rejuvenating arts. At one point Baby has to admit: “All that was gone now, the longing to be young again and the sense of knowing she was still sexually attractive. Only death remained and the certainly that when she died there would be no call for the embalmer. She had seen to that in advance.”

And Tom Sharpe’s needle even travels to the American Deep South. The Great Pursuit rivals Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit in performing a literary scorching of the land of Dixie.

The Great Pursuit doesn't possess the blistering mockery of his two earlier novels about the South African police force, Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure, probably because the publishing world does have some people with brains as opposed to the nitwit police he portrays.

But still, The Great Pursuit makes for a lively, laugh-out-loud read. And you certainly will not want to miss Piper's catastrophe when interviewed for British television or Piper being attacked by Americans from groups left and right when he lands in New York City, or Piper's romance (believe it or not) with Baby.


British novelist Tom Sharpe, 1928-2013

"Listen," he said, "you try promoting a foreign writer. He's got to have a gimmick like he's won the Nobel Prize or been tortured in the Lubianka or something. Charisma. Now what's this Piper got? Nothing. So we build him up. We have ourselves a little riot, a bit of blood and all and overnight he's charismatic. And with those bandages he's going to be in every home tonight on TV. Sell a million copies on that face alone."
- Tom Sharpe, The Great Pursuit

[Freder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caustic humor is a long and noble British tradition. What sets Tom Sharpe ahead of the pack is not the depth of his perversion (which is deep enough) or the sheer volume of comic mayhem that he can squeeze into two hundred pages, but that he can make you laugh out loud at the most appalling things, and keep you coming back for more.
Part of his secret is that the stories are laced with Awful Truth. It’s hard to conceive that a writer who uses penis mutilation as a recurring motif and whose characters habitually cavort in rubber rooms and sex-toy factories might have something important to say. Sharpe is driven by a deep-seated anger at the system, and it’s the anger that powers the black extremes of his humor.
The other part of his secret is harder to express in a short recommendation: because, yes, the books are charming in a sick adult sort of way, and this charm of style seldom fails even when Sharpe is describing (in his South African series Indecent Exposure and Riotous Assembly) the efforts of white Afrikaners to eliminate black Africans by raping black women, or (in The Throwback) the efforts of a young man to hang onto his inheritance by having his dead grandfather stuffed and wired for sound. Look, I don’t expect you to believe me: read the books and find out for yourselves. Reading Tom Sharpe is a test of character — try him and see if you pass.
THE GREAT PURSUIT is the most benign of his books -- and has some wonderful things to say about the publishing industry.

[Stela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amuzant, dar plicticos pe alocuri. Personajul Wilt mi s-a părut mai reușit.

[Stephen Jerrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been awhile since I’ve read one of Tom Sharpe’s books. Always enjoyable.
I always find his books are akin to a Carry-on film put on by the Royal Shakespeare company. Slapstick, rude and whimsy but intelligent throughout.
This is no different and a story of the publication of an awful book which becomes a best seller. All sorts of dysfunctional characters along the way.
The author uses the premise of publishing as an excuse for literary digs at the great and the good.
Don’t think it’s his best book which is why I gave it three stars but it was funny in parts. Not as funny as Wilt which is probably the funniest book I’ve ever read.
It has made me wonder whether to re-read some of his books as I could do with a laugh.

[Griselda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whatever it was Tom Sharpe was pursuing, he got lost halfway through.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book grows on the reader as the plot thickens. Sharpe has a certain way to attract the reader that I cannot really put into words, but his books always make for a great past time. The last passage was very interesting of how even the most incompetent of men can hijack history and it really got me thinking. Generally, I'd say if you find a book with Tom Sharpe written on it, grab it without hesitation.

[Amrith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy characters, an impossible story line, and epic proportions of madness encompassed in Sharpe's characteristic razor-sharp wit makes The Great Pursuit a ridiculous but fun read.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

An enjoyable book with a colorful cast of characters. It’s a satire of the publishing industry.

Frensic has long given up on his dream of writing the Great Novel. Now, he finds success as the literary agent of commercial authors.

Every book he handles emerges from the process of rewriting “like literary plum puddings or blended wines and incorporated sex, violence, thrills, romance and mystery, with the occasional dollop of significance to give them cultural respectability.” His partner, Sonia Futtle, handles the foreign publishers.

One fateful day, Frensic receives the manuscript for Pause O Men for the Virgin. It’s a dirty book. ‘Dirty,’ said Frensic, is hardly adequate. The mind that penned - if minds can pen - this odyssey of lust is of a prurience indescribable.’

The book is similar to Harold and Maude. It recounts the love affair between a 17-year old boy and an 80-something year old geriatric. Frensic and Futtle have been handed a gold mine.

The problem? The author insists on staying anonymous and the only way Hutchmeyer (the American publisher) will agree to a contract is if the author goes on a U.S. tour.

So, Frensic and Futtle pass off Peter Piper as the author of Pause. Piper is a self-proclaimed genius-in-the-waiting who has slaved for years to get his memoir, Search for a Lost Childhood, published. Frensic wines and dines Piper and humors him all these years. He has a soft spot for Piper because he also once aspired to literary fame. But, Frensic secretly thinks Piper’s book is derivative trash and will never see the light of day. By passing Piper off as the author of Pause, Piper will finally get his recognition and Search will be published as part of Pause’s contract deal.

But there’s another hiccup, British publisher Cadwalladine and American publisher Hutchmeyer are made to believe that Piper is the genuine writer of Pause. And…once Piper reads Pause, he despises it. Piper is full of regret, but on the upside he’ll get Search published and he’s going on the U.S. tour with Futtle, whom he’s been harboring intense feelings for.

Will Piper keep up the act or will he spill the beans? So many hijinks ensue. It’s over the top and hilarious. We’re introduced to Baby Hutchmeyer, the wife of the American publisher, and she is my favorite. Her husband is verbally abusive and cheated on her for years and she’s finally had enough. Piper is the catalyst to finally taking life in her own hands. And, boy, does she.

I felt like the story went a little too hay-wire, but it’s a worthwhile read. This is my first time reading Tom Sharpe and I look forward to his other books, especially Riotous Assembly which is a satire of South Africa’s apartheid, the publication of which got him booted out of the country.

[Arax Miltiadous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Διασκεδαστικότατο ευθυμογράφημα που σαρκάζει τον σκοτεινό, παρασκηνιακό κόσμο της Λογοτεχνίας που οι περισσότεροι από εμάς αγνοούμε.
Εύστοχος στις Παρατηρήσεις του Ο Sharpe, καταγράφει ένα μυθιστόρημα εμποτισμένο με αυθεντικό αγγλικό χιούμορ και καταιγιστική δράση ( γνωστή ευρέως και ως Αμερικανια!).
Μου άρεσε, σαν ευχάριστο ελαφρύ διάβασμα μα δυστυχώς κατ εμέ, δεν καταφέρνει να καταρρίψει τα όρια του καλού στο πολύ καλό και εν συνεχεία για το καταπληκτικό.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divertidísima novela que es a la vez comedia de enriedos y crítica literaria que no deja títere con cabeza. La maestría con la que Sharpe destripa a la sociedad de consumo (de libros) de su país es sublime. Ojalá en algún momento me la pueda releer, aunque creo que antes debería darle prioridad a otras obras del autor.

[Blanca13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarante y estrambótico, en la línea de Tom Sharpe. Pone patas arriba el mundo editorial: escritores, agentes, editores... todos salen mal parados por igual. Para pasar un buen rato

[M.K. Aston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Când cineva îl întreba pe Frensic de ce prizează tutun, el răspundea că o face fiindcă, de fapt şi de drept, s‑ar fi cuvenit să trăiască în secolul al XVIII‑lea. Zicea că era secolul cel mai potrivit cu temperamentul şi stilul lui de viaţă, doar era epoca raţiunii, a eleganţei, a evoluţiei şi progresului şi a celorlalte trăsături pe care era atât de limpede că le avea şi el. Ceea ce nu avea – şi aflase cumva că nici secolul al XVIII‑lea nu avusese – nu făcea decât să‑i accentueze plăcerea faţă de propria‑i afectare şi uimirea celor care îl ascultau, ba chiar, lucru destul de paradoxal, îi justifica pretenţia de a împărtăşi acelaşi spaţiu familiar cu Sterne, Swift, Smollett, Richardson, Fielding şi alţi giganţi ai începuturilor romanului, al căror talent Frensic îl admira atât de mult.
Deoarece Frensic era un agent literar care dispreţuia aproape toate romanele pe care le plasase cu atât de mult succes, avea un secol al XVIII‑lea propriu şi personal, cel de pe Grub Street şi Gin Lane, pe care eroul nostru îl omagia afectând o excentricitate şi un cinism ce‑i creaseră o reputaţie folositoare şi, concomitent, o pavăză împotriva pretenţiilor literare ale autorilor nevandabili. Pe scurt, Frensic făcea baie rar, purta veste de lână vara, mânca mult mai mult decât i‑ar fi picat bine, bea vin negru înainte de prânz şi priza tutun în cantităţi respectabile, aşa că oricine voia să aibă de‑a face cu el trebuia să‑şi dovedească tăria îndurând cu stoicism aceste deprinderi deplorabile. Apoi, Frensic sosea devreme la lucru, citea fiecare manuscris care îi era expediat, le returna cu promptitudine pe cele care nu erau vandabile, iar pe celelalte le vindea cu aceeaşi promptitudine, în general administrându‑şi afacerea cu o eficienţă uimitoare. Când Frensic zicea că o carte o să se vândă, atunci se vindea. Avea nas pentru best-seller-uri – unul infailibil.
Îi plăcea să creadă că nasul îl moştenise de la tatăl său, care fusese un excelent comerciant de vinuri. Oricum, lucrând în domeniul vinurilor roşii, plăcute şi foarte accesibile ca preţ, nasul părintelui său achitase costisitoarele studii ale lui Frensic, iar aceste studii, împreună cu nasul mai metafizic cu care fusese dăruit Frensic, îi creaseră acestuia un avantaj în faţa concurenţilor din branşă. Nu că ar fi existat vreo legătură directă între educaţia lui Frensic şi succesul lui de connaisseur al literaturii dătătoare de satisfacţii comerciale. Bătuse cale lungă până să‑şi descopere vocaţia şi dacă admiraţia lui pentru secolul al XVIII‑lea, deşi reală, ascundea totuşi o dorinţă de retragere în trecut, exact acesta fusese şi procesul prin care Frensic ajunsese să se bucure de succes ca agent literar.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec La Grande Poursuite ?
"Mon oncle m'a prêtée deux livres de cet auteur. Comme j'avais bien aimé le premier, le début des aventures de Wilt, et qu'il m'avait garantie que celui-ci était encore meilleur, je n'ai pas hésité à le lire."

Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Frensic, agent littéraire de son état, a déniché le prochain best-seller, il en est sûr ! Mais pour le vendre aux maison d'éditions, il va devoir bluffer. Quant à la tournée de promotion, que l'auteur refuse de faire pour rester anonyme, il lui suffit de trouver quelqu'un pour le remplacer. Mais de mensonges en catastrophes, les choses s'enchaînent alors à une allure déconcertante..."

Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous ?
"Agent littéraire de son état, le héros ne se gêne pas pour balancer tout ce qu'il pense de mal des auteurs, éditeurs et lecteurs. Personne n'y échappe. J'ai beaucoup ri, j'ai apprécié l'humour et la satyre à n'en pas douter. Pour le reste, on retrouve un schéma assez similaire à l'autre roman que j'ai pu lire de l'auteur, il y a même tout un passage quasi identique (paresse ou hommage ?), mais sans la sympathie que l'on ressentait pour Wilt au fil des pages. Ici, personne n'a vraiment mérité ce qui lui arrive et en même temps, tout le monde l'a bien cherché. Du coup, je ne suis pas sûre d'avoir préféré cet opus finalement mais Tom Sharpe reste un auteur à la plume acérée et à la langue bien pendue, qui ne fait pas toujours dans la finesse, loin s'en faut, et jamais dans le politiquement correct, que je ne regrette pas d'avoir découvert."

Et comment cela s'est-il fini ?
"J'ai aimé, et je n'ai pas aimé. J'ai aimé l'idée de l'auteur, d'une savoureuse ironie. J'ai moins aimé que certains, parmi les pires personnages du roman, s'en sortent si bien. Que voulez-vous, j'espère toujours bêtement que dans les livres au moins, chacun ait ce qu'il mérite."

http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...

[Doug Lewars · Rating 5 out of 5]

*** Possible Spoilers ***

For me, this was the best of all the Tom Sharpe books. I think, perhaps, he was putting much of himself in this one seeing as it focuses on writing. In it he takes no prisoners. He skewers authors, publishers, agents, critics, readers and marketing. Among the authors, he takes a few pointed shots at classical writers such as Fitzgerald and Conrad but, presumably wary of libel, stays away from most who are still alive. There may be one exception. This book was published in 1977. One of the characters is very much into ecology and has the woods around her and her husband's mansion stocked with bears. There are a number of suggestions - all of which are refuted with disgust by the husband - the woman is 'into bears'. The husband character makes a point of ridiculing the idea and saying no woman could possibly be into bears. That's about the end of it; however, in 1976, Marion Engel published Bear, a story in which a woman is, most definitely into bears, or at least one bear and not in the ecological sense. I don't know if Tom Sharpe read that book but it's possible. Unfortunately he's dead and can't be asked.

Know at the outset, if you don't like black humour and farce, you won't like this. In addition, I doubt younger readers would enjoy it. I suggest the ideal reader is older, reasonably widely read, and has utter contempt for what passes as award winning literature these days. If you're looking for character arcs and delving into the human psyche, take a pass on this one. There are a plethora of books out there of that nature, but this isn't one of them.

[Mike Kisil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sharpe turns his eyes to the publishing world for a satirical look at literary agents, editors, aspiring writers, publishers and media managers and delivers another selection of grotesque caricatures that just about plausibly exist in real life. I read this with a smile all the way through and thought it a shame that the comic set-piece that Sharpe is known for, happens earlier in the text rather than gradually building up to it. There is no doubt that the burning of the Hutchmeyer mansion is like something out of "Fawlty Towers", dialled up to 11. After that, everything else that happens feels perfunctory. Still it prompts me to search out his other books to see if he can maintain the same level of humour.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absurda, divertidísima e irónica. Se ceba con el mundo editorial en general y las grandes editoriales en particular. Ningún personaje tiene desperdicio: Frederik, agente literario que sabe que un libro será un bestseller cuando le repugna. Sonia, su socia, que se enamora perdidamente dos veces. Piper, el eterno aspirante a escritor, tiquismisquis y con una idea muy rígida de lo que es la verdadera literatura. Hutchmeyer, un editor exitoso, inculto y mujeriego. Y Baby, su mujer, ansiosa por conocer a un escritor con el que empezar una nueva vida. Por no hablar de la mecanógrafa, el editor inglés y los peculiares habitantes de Bibliópolis.

[lärm · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the second time I'm reading it, just because I was in need for something light after having finished a dreadful book on the ghetto of Lodz. I needed something to cheer me up and I thought Sharpe would do the trick. It did, but not as much as I expected. I guess this is just not one of his best works. Still, all the classic ingredients of Sharpe were present.
Apart from the joke on Desmond Morris' "naked ape", little made me laugh. Too much déjà vu I guess.

[Keith Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A taste of Wodehousian humour and complexity but a bit earthier. A satire on the literary industry - agents and authors - which I found very piquant as an author and editor myself. Recommending to all my writing friends (who might see a bit of themselves in it). Even if not associated, it can be enjoyed by anyone who likes a good humorous story, with over-the-top characters and their problems. Clever plot.

[Carolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro muito engraçado, com um humor sarcástico e ácido, que nos conta as desventuras da publicação de um livro aparentemente indecente.

Os personagens são muito engraçados, com uma caracterização cáustica e crítica da sociedade da época, assim como a narrativa, que - de forma muito baralhada - nos leva a conhecer os meandros da riqueza editorial e tudo o que é (era?) feito para tornar um livro um sucesso nas bancas.

Foi uma leitura rápida e divertida.

[Marcella Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un personaggio misterioso scrive un libro terribile, uno scrittore sconosciuto accetta di diventare l'autore, un agente letterario convince gli editori a costruire un best seller, la nemesi incombe su tutti. È una sarabanda di personaggi improbabili quella che si muove fra Gran Bretagna e Stati Uniti. Mi ha ricordato Wodehouse con un pizzico di peperoncino in più. Ridere non è una colpa !

[James Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm currently re-reading all the early Tom Sharpe books. This one has always been one of my favourites. The plot has been described elsewhere so I won't re-hash the details here. No one does madcap, laugh-out-loud (and occasionlly 'very naughty') imaginative humour like the late Tom Sharpe. Reading his work is a comedic masterclass.

[Shanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Sharpe satire, the difference being this blends brit lit and has glimpses of Sharpe’s strong hold on it.
Climax at bibliopolis and the eventual downfall of
Both Piper and Frensic (albeit their economical and popular success) makes it a fantastic ending.

[Govno Nichevo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was a pretty good read. Though not the best example of the author's work the farce, wry humour, and over the top characters, are classic Sharpe. Set in the 70s this story has aged reasonably well, but I am not sure if the humour translates well to other cultures.

[Emmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Tom Sharpe.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roman intéressant, marrant et pleins de surprises. Une fin inattendue.

[Andrey zz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Абсурдный литературный триллер

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good compared to Tom Sharpe’s best works

[Maria White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant!

[Sam Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains all the usual Sharpe elements for a decent howlingly funny farce... Except one. It's not funny :( Sorry Tom :(