The Tooth Fairy: Amazon.ca: Graham Joyce: Books

Product Description

From Amazon.com

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Clive was on the far side of the green pond, torturing a king-crested newt. Read the first page

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29 �valuations

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4.2�toiles sur 5 (29 �valuations de client)

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Commentaires client les plus utiles

5.0�toiles sur 5 My first Graham Joyce but not my last!, Avril 1 2004

Par	DogsDeserveCompassion (USA) - Voir tous mes commentaires

This review is from: 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
it wasn't.

Overall a very creepy, touching, and perfectly bizarre book.

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4.0�toiles sur 5 The brilliant and the bizarre, Janv. 15 2004

Par	Paul R Sheringham (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - Voir tous mes commentaires

This review is from: 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.

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1.0�toiles sur 5 Like Drinking vinegar spiked with Sewage Water, Janv. 4 2004

Par	Mark Wilson (Wenham, Ma United States) - Voir tous mes commentaires

This review is from: 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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Commentaires client les plus r�cents

2.0�toiles sur 5 With teeth
I found Graham Joyce's writing simply gorgeous in its darkness and lush imagery. The story, however, felt unfocused. Read more

Publi� le Oct. 22 2003 par blissengine

5.0�toiles sur 5 Brilliant, Poignant Tale of Childhood
A picture of author Graham Joyce adorns the rear flap of "The Tooth Fairy," a photograph of a middle aged British guy laughing it up. Read more

Publi� le Ao� 29 2003 par Jeffrey Leach

5.0�toiles sur 5 Fantastical depiction of psychological impairments
A group of children coming of age together is nothing new, yet Graham Joyce somehow manages to not only make it feel fresh but different as well. Read more

Publi� le F�v 18 2003 par Glen Engel Cox

5.0�toiles sur 5 Experienced But Never Explained
An award-winning, WAY freaky little novel by British writer Graham Joyce...Sam stashes a tooth under his pillow, as millions before him have done, and wakes to find the Tooth... Read more

Publi� le Oct. 1 2002 par Lawrence E. Wilson