Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Life and Death of Laura Friday and of Pavarotti her parrot.

Remember a while ago I posted about a soon-to-be-released book by a kiwi author with perhaps the most outlandish plot I had ever come across?

Well, I finally got my hands on a copy and here is my review/10 cents worth...





Title:
The Life and Death of Laura Friday and of Pavarotti her parrot.
Author: David Murphy
Publisher:
Penguin
Price: $26.99


A severed penis, a femme fatale assassin, broken hearts, cannabis and convent girls – first time author, New Zealand’s own David Murphy packs them all into his farcical comedic romp.

And it’s a cracker read.

When the local electrician’s boy bits are cut off in a coffee table accident only to be saved by a selfless transplant offer from his transgender brother, the world media descend on the sleepy fiction New Zealand town of Bullock for the story.

Fitz Kennedy is an aspiring writer and journalist for the Bullock Telegraph who gets the scoop then looses it and his heart to the feisty and determined Frankie, the hot shot journo from London sent to cover the action.

Fitz’s revenge is sweet; he writes a best selling novel, basing his assassin lead character Laura Friday on the bewitchingly beautiful Frankie.

But writing a string of novels based on your broken heart means that Frankie is always with him. So Fritz decides to do something about it.

A former policeman and advertising executive, David Murphy has written a stellar debut “bloke-lit” novel that is packed full of laughs, outlandish situations and even more outlandish characters.

Sure, you have to suspend belief in a Forest Gump kind of way (it’s the first time I have ever heard of a swearing, dope growing, Nun) but who cares when you can be so deliciously and thoroughly entertained that you frequently snort with laughter?


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