- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books (Jan 28 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 031286261X
- ISBN-13: 978-0312862619
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.7 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,673,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
The disquietude in Graham Joyce's coming-of-age tale is that of having too much power as a child--the kind of power that turns your slightest wishes into mayhem. This power is granted to the rather ordinary and fearful member (neither the smartest nor the strongest) of a trio of friends growing up in small-town England by his stinky and enigmatic night visitor, the Tooth Fairy. The charm of this British Fantasy Award-winning novel is in his subtle and unsentimental portrait of a supernaturally benighted childhood. As Ellen Datlow writes in Omni, "Joyce immediately hooks his readers from the very first page with a small sharp shock and holds the reader with engaging characters and an air of menace. This tooth fairy is ... mischievous and destructive, representing our own worst aspects." --Fiona Webster
From Publishers Weekly
An unlikely sprite assumes a sinister incarnation in this exceptional supernatural novel about a troublesome but endearing trio of boys coming of age in the English Midlands in the 1960s. Seven-year-old Sam first lays eyes on the Tooth Fairy?oddly dressed and smelling of horse's sweat and chamomile?in the middle of the night after he has stashed a tooth under his pillow. Over the years, the fairy becomes a fixture in his life. No one else can see or hear this odd creature, who is sometimes male, sometimes female and alternately coy, cruel and cuddly. Even without this personal demon, Sam would get into plenty of trouble with his chums: Clive, a "gifted child" who wins a NASA (yes, the American NASA) science contest at age six but longs to be normal; Terry, an affable lad whose life is plagued by catastrophe; and Alice, the fetching, knowing girl who drives the boys wild with lust. Joyce (Requiem) engagingly describes the boys' childhood experiences?sampling drugs, toying with explosives, worrying over acne?and carefully portrays their childlike stoicism in the face of several horrifying tragedies. Sam worries that the Tooth Fairy, who grows menacing and sexually demanding, is responsible for those calamities. The novel's appeal lies primarily in the three boys, who are charmingly mischievous, naive and hormone-driven, portrayed by Joyce with a gentle wit. No less compelling, though, is the fairy, a fleur de mal from childhood's secret garden whose perfume seduces Sam and the reader alike into a fertile, startling nightmare. (Mar.) FYI: The Tooth Fairy has won the 1997 British Fantasy Award for best novel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Clive was on the far side of the green pond, torturing a king-crested newt. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Clive was on the far side of the green pond, torturing a king-crested newt. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
My first Graham Joyce but not my last!,
By
Ce commentaire est de: The Tooth Fairy: A Novel (Paperback)
I loved this odd book and found it very difficult to put down. It's a character driven coming of age story about three young boys growing up in apparent normalcy. But underneath the veneer of normalcy simmers unexpected moments of darkness and danger. As the boy's deal with life's many pitfalls -- growing up too smart, too dumb, too mediocre -- lurking in the shadows is a vicious tooth fairy which only one of the boy's (Sam) can see. This tooth fairy is not the sweet version of childhood dreams but a nightmarish razor toothed, potty mouthed, mischievous apparition and it's not at all pleased that Sam can see it. As Sam grows, the tooth fairy continues to show up unexpectedly and begins to change its form, becoming a chilling sexual thing that teases and taunts and awakens odd feelings in Sam. Despite Sam's fear of the tooth fairy the two have a weird sort of connection. This was most definitely a book that was anything but the "same-old, same-old" and I never could figure out quite where it was going next which is what I enjoyed so much about the book. The blend of the ordinary and the "weird" was seamless. Sam was a well developed, realistic character and watching him mature and grow was fascinating and I'm still pondering over the question "was it all in his imagination?" I'd like to think Overall a very creepy, touching, and perfectly bizarre book.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The brilliant and the bizarre,
By Paul R Sheringham (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
Ce commentaire est de: The Tooth Fairy: A Novel (Paperback)
I read this book in a couple of days over christmas. Many books I buy, I don't get past the first chapter, but not this one. The action dragged me in, and Joyce's prose flows freely on the page. I thought the imagination behind the Tooth Fairy was vivid and poignant. The tooth fairy was as troubled a soul, as the three boys growing up in this tale. Sam, Clive, and Terry where great characters. There were some parts of this book that I couldn't get into, the nightmare interceptor, the mad inventor, and an incident involving a razor blade and an orange. Some of these elements were introduced into the plot, but not resolved to my satisfaction. However, the relationship that develops between the Tooth Fairy and Sam, is something that I can read over and over again, and enjoy it each time.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Like Drinking vinegar spiked with Sewage Water,
By Mark Wilson (Wenham, Ma United States) - See all my reviews
Ce commentaire est de: The Tooth Fairy: A Novel (Paperback)
As I only have so many hours in which to consume good quality writing, I am sad to say that some of that time was spent in reading this book. I didn't even finish it. 10 full chapters then I started to speed read it to at least understand the story. I may or may not finish speed reading it, just so I can discuss it with my Sci Fi Reading Club. I would return it to the library if it wasn't for the fact I might want to discuss it with others in my group. But what I have read is enough to make me want to throw out what was on my plate. Reading it made me feel as if I had been drinking vinegar spiked with Sewage Water. With the idea of a Tooth Fairy Story, I thought it would be layered with mystery, fantasy, awe and wonder. Instead it is layered with a scarry depressing raunchy tooth fairy. The story was anything but interesting and was a crude and tasteless venture of writing. I didn't care about the characters and was not happy to be in their presense. If I sound too harsh, that's because the taste left in my mouth after reading this book really tastes terrible and this is my way of saying.......... Y U C KKKKKKKKKKKKKKk
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