No Hope for Gomez! [Paperback]

 

 

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Praise for Graham Parke's "No hope for Gomez!"

I'm an avid reader, the kind that spends a large slice of her monthly income solely on books.
I greatly enjoy reading in general, but there are two kinds of books that I have a special shelf for: books that won't allow me to set them down and books that make laugh. Not just smile, laugh out loud. Graham Parke's book made the shelf for both reasons. It is now part of the list of Top 5 best books I've ever read.

This book caught me by surprise. I was looking for funny books to buy, but facing the same problem as always: I'm not an easy laugh. People had tons of recommendations, from Terry Pratchett to David Lodge, but my question to them was always the same: "Did the book make you laugh or did it just make you smile?" If the answer was the latter, than the book was not for me.

Not knowing who else to ask, I googled "books that made me laugh out loud", which led me to GoodRead's list of "Funniest reads of 2010... so far". I scrolled through it and checked out some titles, but one in particular caught my attention. It had such a curious name!
I checked out a second list on the same website: "Best humorous books". And there it was again, the thinker and the sombrero, making me wonder what was the story behind that cover. I read the synopsis and skipped the reviews. I had already made up my mind: I was buying "No hope for Gomez!"

I often buy books I hope will be good, but this one surpassed any expectation I had: it was freaking hilarious! Graham Parke creates a plot and characters that are so incredibly absurd, you can't help but absolutely love them! His writing is intelligent, very, very funny and much more daring and unapologetic than most of the humor writers I've read. He sprinkles his plot line with unexpected bursts off oddities, here and there, that made me burst out in laughter, or just blurt out the word "Brilliant!", while reading the book in a silent library. The effect his story and characters had on me were so amusingly insane, the smile on my face lingered long after I had closed the book for the day. "He is so funny!" I repeated, every time I closed the book, not actually wanting to stop reading, but because I was already late for my appointments, for having been reading "just one more chapter".

Graham may be a new author, who pretty much had to make everything happen himself, which may make you have to do a little research to find him. But in my opinion, he should be given his rightful place on the shelves of every major book store, sitting among names like Shalom Auslander and Christopher Moore, some of the greatest humorous writers I had ever had the pleasure of reading.

If you are looking for real humor, something fresh and original, with characters that are a brilliant exercise in absurdity (e.g. Warren, the small-animal-wok-frying downstairs neighbor), you got it.

No hope for Gomez, but great laughs for you.

I believe this is very close to what the concept of Literature would look like, if you turned it inside out, set fire to it, and had sex with it over a long weekend. I read the whole thing twice before picking up anything else, and it's been a long time since that's happened to me. There is definitely hope for Graham Parke!

I really like the shape of this book. It's just the right height and width, reminiscent of earlier works by authors such as Woody Allen and Bret Easton Ellis.

I also like the thickness of the book, which is unexpectedly spellbinding. It reminds the reader that life need not be complicated, nor three inches thick all round.

I also like the words used to cover the pages inside, and the order they are used in. But other reviewers have already commented on those...so...

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› See all 8 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

4.0 out of 5 stars Funniest read of 2010!
This is without a doubt the funniest book I've read in a long time. It doesn't try to be funny, it just is. Read more

Published 18 months ago by 7of7

1.0 out of 5 stars Weird and not the good kind of weird
Just awful, It is really a waste of money. If I want to read creepy blog I would just google it. I don't recommend it save your money and buy something else.

Published 18 months ago by RatUout

5.0 out of 5 stars A hilarious and twisted journey from start to finish!
I loved this book! Gomez Porter is an instantly likeable character, and he draws the reader ever further into his (sometimes off-balanced) mindset through the openness and honesty... Read more

Published 19 months ago by Sue A. Maynard (Carving The Light)

4.0 out of 5 stars No Hope for Gomez, Much Hope for Parke!
"It was like suddenly getting a glimpse of a giant invisible hand turning the world. You were not supposed to see those kind of things. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Dante

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the wait!
I've followed this writer on the net for a while, waiting impatiently for some longer works. This debut novel does not disappoint. Read more

Published on May 25 2010 by Johnny13

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