I am an enormous fan of Edward St. Aubyn, and having seen him discuss this book at the Cheltenham Literary Festival earlier this year (and read a hilarious extract!) I was very excited and intrigued to read this book. This will be particularly enjoyable for anyone who has worked in the Publishing industry and has been caught up in the hype/hysteria surrounding book prizes, and particularly The Booker Prize. This book satirises the Booker, it's judges and the types of authors who receive nominations while revealing the politics, favours and elitism that exist around it. Based loosely on his own experiences (Mother's Milk was shortlisted in 2006), this is Edward St. Aubyn's first attempt at a comic novel and it's a real joy. This will have you laughing out loud in parts. It's very light and trifling, and the plot is in no way sophisticated but if you are looking for a quick and funny read, give this a go. I look forward to seeing what he does next. I get what this book was going for, and I appreciate what this book was going for, but ultimately the shtick was just too much for me.This was a novel about a literary prize and all the various people involved with it (i.e. authors, publishers, and judges). These characters were ridiculous spoofs of these types of people, very tongue-in-cheek and very intentionally so. Egomaniacal authors, authors with no self-esteem, megalomaniac authors and publishers, judges who were scheming various outcomes for various reasons, etc. I did enjoy and appreciate a lot of this--some of the mocking was quite funny and well-done, and clever, such as the bit about the software program called "Ghost" (with various upgrade to "Ghost Gold" and "Ghost Plus", etc.) that suggested entire ridiculous, flowery, overwritten phrases for the writer's-blocked author.Clever, but went a bit too far. It was so self-aware that it sort of ruined the effect for me. The outcome is what you would expect... that the worst and least-appropriate book wins the prize, all because of the various schemes and machinations executed by the judges in question, for motives (completely unrelated to "what is the best book") ranging from their love lives to their frayed relationships with their children. It was a clever idea but I tired of it quickly.
What do You think about Met Stomheid Geslagen (2014)?
Great fun, this British comedy of manners and affectations, but ultimately rather slight.
—Bianca
Enjoyed all the story lines but was expecting a bigger finish.
—crw112452
