Notes from an Exhibition...

[MaryAnnSingleton]

took this to read on my hols as I like Patrick Gale and really liked it- was meant to be reading No Time for Goodbye which is my book group's book for August - really wish it'd been Notes from an Exhibition instead (mind you my last recommendation for book group which was his Friendly Fire didn't go down well with the ladies- tsk)...
I loved the descriptions of painting,colours etc and loved the bit about 'Barbara Hepworth' - coincidentally we came across a sculpture of hers at Snape Maltings...have posted a pic on my profile,or will do in a sec.

I am very tempted by Therapy because that's exactly the sort of book that makes me laugh (have you read Philip Roth's Everyman? it's also quite funny and sounds in a similar vein).

Amazon have a 3 in 1 book for just over a tenner of Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work which will probably break my arm but will definitely keep me going for a bit!

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was 'the best a man can get' the one where he did jingles for ads and had another flat where he went to escape his wife and kids? I remember reading it before I had kids and thinking how awful and then having kids and thinking 'god, wouldn't it be nice to have my own peaceful, clean and tidy flat'

Now I didn't get on with Tim Lott at all; or John O Farrell. Farrell just seemed to be desperately trying to be funny and sort of chuckling along at himself all the time.

Now Bill Bryson is REALLY funny; snorting out loud on the train type funny.

I must admit I'm not a John O'Farrell fan either. May Contain Nuts was not my cup of tea at all.
Shame you don't like The Rain Before it Falls oi, but I think most critics have dismissed it as a scanty marking-time work
I love his prose so much I was not bothered about the critics
I may well have recommended him before but I have also read and loved the poet Gerard Woodward's scary, funny trilogy about the blight of addiction on one suburban family. I'll Go to Bed at Noon was shortlisted for the Booker and is far more blackly entertaining than you'd think. August is the first in the trilogy.
I was flirting with going over to Rome when I read How Far Can You Go, malory, so it has a special place in my affections . It did indeed affect my decision to remain a card-carrying member of the woolly C of E

ha ! I will try the Jonathan Coe
David Lodge rings a lot of Catholic bells in me btw !

just finished reading notes... LOVED it. i found it really dense as i usually storm through books i am enjoying, but this was really full and took me longer. dh said the same, we were reading it at the same time. patrick gale is v handsome...

He's also very gay... Someone above mentioned Tim Lott. I love his books. I always get them mixed up with Toby Litt though who has also written some good books, esp one about the couple who suffer a still birth. Very, very moving. How about Scarlotte Thomas? Anyone read her? My favourite is Popco which I thought was so clever. The End of Mr Y is also very good. I recommend her if you like the likes of Tim and Toby.