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the complete review - fiction

Still Life with Volkswagens

by
Geoff Nicholson

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B+ : a great deal of fun, even if the story does not entirely come together.

See our review for fuller assessment.

  From the Reviews:

• "The novel's pile-up finale has a bit of deus ex machina to it. But so what. It's a mad, mad, mad world, and Nicholson's satiric talent has enough horsepower to make thrilling a meandering ride to nowhere in particular." - Publishers Weekly

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       The bizarre nature of publishing in the United States presents unsuspecting American readers (perhaps doubting their very existence) with this -- a sequel -- without ever acknowledging, much less publishing the book that preceded it, Street Sleeper. Go figure. Or go to England, which in literary terms certainly seems the way to go. Nevertheless, the Overlook Press must be commended for at least providing us with this volume. It is, again, a paean to that lovely little car, the VW, with hero Barry Osgathorpe reëvaluating his relationship with the Beetle.
       Full of the VW-obsessed, in all peculiar shades and colors, and set around a mystery of sorts (VWs are being blown up ! people are missing !), Nicholson regales his readers with stories and anecdotes galore. As usual in a Nicholson novel, there are many threads, as too often they are not brought together entirely to our satisfaction. Nevertheless, it is a barrel (or at least a Beetle) load of fun, and is certainly recommended as an enjoyable, light read.

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Links:

• The Overlook Press publicity page

• Baltimore Sun
• His Futile Preoccupations
• The Modern Novel
• Publishers Weekly

• The complete review's Geoff Nicholson page.
• Official site

• Bedlam Burning
• Big Noises
• Bleeding London
• The City under the Skin
• The Errol Flynn Novel
• Everything and More
• Female Ruins
• Flesh Guitar
• The Food Chain
• Gravity's Volkswagen
• Footsucker
• The Hollywood Dodo
• Hunters and Gatherers
• The Knot Garden
• The Lost Art of Walking
• The Miranda
• Sex Collectors
• Street Sleeper
• What we did on our Holidays

• See Index of Contemporary British fiction

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About the Author:

       English author Geoff Nicholson, born in Sheffield in 1953, has written a flurry of novels. He lives in London and New York.

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