This is the anarchic comedy of one man who realizes his secret ambition to get into the music industry—managing a band called Gandhi's Hairdryer. But he's soon to find out something very odd about the band—something other-worldly.
Customer Reviews
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Rated by buyers - Stumble into the oddness of Brentford
I read this whenever I need to have a good guffaw and be amazed. Compelling, inspired and funny.
Rated by buyers - i absolutely luvd this book
this was the very first rankin book i purchased, it was recomended to me because i read a lot of Moore's stuff. well i have to say this book was unbelievably funny. Barely a page went by that i did not find myself chuckling outloud. I found the very lyrical form of writing to be an extremely fast read. the only problem with the book was that i finished it too fast. rest assured i will read more Rankin books in the months to come.
Rated by buyers - Off the wall
Hilarious. Absolutely mad. Check out his other books and read the reviews on amazon.co.uk (he's an English writer).
Brentford does exist, it is near Heathrow airport on the way into London. Couldn't find the pub though.
I am not into science fiction, or time travelling, but I am into inspired, slightly insane, totally off the wall, writing. There's none better than Robert Rankin.
Recommended.
Rated by buyers - Well? Amazon, what are you thinking?
I ordered this in early September. It's now October 8 and I haven't yet received it, but they want me to review it?
Be serious, guys.
Rated by buyers - There's no time like the present
And a lot of time travelers put in a lot of - well, time to make it this way, so don't go messing it up.
Rankin gives us a seriously skewed view of a world a lot like ours. All of commerce, all of industry, and a fair bit of the government have been taken over by one megacorp, but the placid little town of Brentford putters along the way is has for the last few hundred years. And a good thing, too. For one thing, there's that new band with the feel-good music, the kind that really leaves you feeling good. There's Jim Pooley whose name goes down in history as the biggest cockup ever, and getting killed early on doesn't seem to get in his way. There's a stove-top genetic experiment in horse breeding, with sucess of peculiar sorts. There's the fortune teller who doesn't read your palm but your - well, women don't seem to have very much ahead of them. And there's the end of the world, not that anyone seems to care very much. It all comes together in a readable, entertaining story that all ends just about where it began, only not quite.
This seems to be one interlude midway through a series of books centered on Brentford, but a newcomer will pick up the who's who and what's what (even the when's when) quickly enough. It lacks Terry Pratchett's level of fantasy and huge personalities, and lacks Tom Holt's sense of frenzy. Still it's a good read, and I'll be back to Brentford again.
Rankin is just starting to catch on in the US, but deserves a lot more attention. He puts together an amusing story. If nothing else, it should hold you until Pratchett or Holt come out with their next.
- Stumble into the oddness of Brentford
- Well? Amazon, what are you thinking?
- There's no time like the present