...along with Donkey Dick Movie Star and Flash Wanker.
Or, more specifically, Matt Beaumont. Even more specifically, The Book, the Film, the T-Shirt.
I've only read three of Beaumont's novels so far - e., Where There's a Will, and the afforementioned book, film, t-shirt (which is how it is going to be refered to from now on, because I am very lazy).
Excuse me, I'm just going to get on the library website and see what they can do about that.
...nope, it appears to be down for Easter.
That's the thing about the library. Generally, the opening hours are pretty good - 9am to 8pm most days, 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, and closed on Sundays. But, anything even close to a holiday, and they're off. I was quite surprised to find that they were open on Saturday, and, from what the librarian told me, I wasn't the only one. He reckoned they'd had about fifty calls querying whether they would be or not.
I'm not entirely sure why that should effect the website, but, apparently, that has Easter off too.
So, anyway. Matt Beaumont.
His first novel, e., was written in an epistolary style, that is, formed from various documents. It takes part at fictional ad agency, Miller Shanks, and consists of emails sent between employees, from the CEO down to the temp, and including one written by a cleaner.
Bookfilmt-shirt is written in a similar style, but merely switches between points of view, rather than written documents, which offers a little more freedom.
Once criticism often levelled at epistolary novels is that they can encourage laziness - when an author needs to explain something, they can just switch to another character. Many authors simply avoid using one or more of the key characters, leaving those around them to simply guess at what they're thinking. Jodi Picoult did it in My Sister's Keeper (the film of which kind of sucked, by the way), and Matt Beaumont does it here. Pulls it off, too.
Quick note on the film of the book here since I'm not going to give it it's own post; although the book of My Sister's Keeper had an unusual, extremely unlikely ending, it worked for it. It gave the book a fresher feel, made it a little more unusual.
Where I think the film suffered was, it changed that ending, and downplayed the legal parts, and some of the issues resulting from the court case, which was the book's other strength. In the end it was just, basically, a made-for-TV movie about a kid with leukaemia (why yes, that is an About A Boy reference), with some famous faces in it. Rather meh, really.
Anyway, extra-large tits and rizlas.
It's a little difficult to really describe the plot of bookfilmt-shirt, since there are so many different lines and subplots going on at once. Each character has their own little one, some short, others arcing to the end of the novel. Pretty much the only way to tell it is as it's written, which eventually ends with me saying "oh, just read it." Which really is rather good advice, if I do say so myself.
I am going to have a go at summarizing the plot anyway, just because it would be rather lame if I didn't.
The book's about the making of an advert for Blackstock tires, an American company trying to make a name in Britain. It stars Joe Strider and Rebecca Richards, young stars of Dawson's Creek-type show, All Our Lives Before Us. Rebecca, a Brit, had been dating Joe (a yank), until he filmed Body Matter with Keven French (who also happens to be the director of the advert in question, since he and the adman go way back). Joe's star is on the rise due to this, and he's holding that over Kevin, who believes that he needs to make Body Matter II in order to keep his career (sadly, Hollywood really does value actors over directors). Joe also dumped Rebecca for their young co-star, Greta Bastendorff (an oversight on Beaumont's part, I think; he made her seventeen which, while acceptably young here, is completely illegal and much more shocking over there).
Joe has become a complete diva; he demands extra staff, a new bed, and constantly belittles Rebecca. Then there's the runner, the PA, the executive-in-charge-of-jellybeans, the adman, the amateur drug dealer turned bouncer (who christens Rebecca 'Extra-Large Tits and Rizlas' after he spots her being searched at the airport), the hairdresser, Norman the Cook, and a whole host of other characters, all with their own viewpoint. Some are only in for a few scenes, others comment throughout the entire novel.
The book just makes me laugh. A lot. That's what I really like about it. From the first page, I was giggling my little head off. And it's just gone midnight, and I've been working on this post intermittently for almost a week now, so I'll leave it at that.
Or, more specifically, Matt Beaumont. Even more specifically, The Book, the Film, the T-Shirt.
I've only read three of Beaumont's novels so far - e., Where There's a Will, and the afforementioned book, film, t-shirt (which is how it is going to be refered to from now on, because I am very lazy).
Excuse me, I'm just going to get on the library website and see what they can do about that.
...nope, it appears to be down for Easter.That's the thing about the library. Generally, the opening hours are pretty good - 9am to 8pm most days, 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, and closed on Sundays. But, anything even close to a holiday, and they're off. I was quite surprised to find that they were open on Saturday, and, from what the librarian told me, I wasn't the only one. He reckoned they'd had about fifty calls querying whether they would be or not.
I'm not entirely sure why that should effect the website, but, apparently, that has Easter off too.
So, anyway. Matt Beaumont.
His first novel, e., was written in an epistolary style, that is, formed from various documents. It takes part at fictional ad agency, Miller Shanks, and consists of emails sent between employees, from the CEO down to the temp, and including one written by a cleaner.
Bookfilmt-shirt is written in a similar style, but merely switches between points of view, rather than written documents, which offers a little more freedom.
Once criticism often levelled at epistolary novels is that they can encourage laziness - when an author needs to explain something, they can just switch to another character. Many authors simply avoid using one or more of the key characters, leaving those around them to simply guess at what they're thinking. Jodi Picoult did it in My Sister's Keeper (the film of which kind of sucked, by the way), and Matt Beaumont does it here. Pulls it off, too.
Quick note on the film of the book here since I'm not going to give it it's own post; although the book of My Sister's Keeper had an unusual, extremely unlikely ending, it worked for it. It gave the book a fresher feel, made it a little more unusual.
Where I think the film suffered was, it changed that ending, and downplayed the legal parts, and some of the issues resulting from the court case, which was the book's other strength. In the end it was just, basically, a made-for-TV movie about a kid with leukaemia (why yes, that is an About A Boy reference), with some famous faces in it. Rather meh, really.
Anyway, extra-large tits and rizlas.
It's a little difficult to really describe the plot of bookfilmt-shirt, since there are so many different lines and subplots going on at once. Each character has their own little one, some short, others arcing to the end of the novel. Pretty much the only way to tell it is as it's written, which eventually ends with me saying "oh, just read it." Which really is rather good advice, if I do say so myself.
I am going to have a go at summarizing the plot anyway, just because it would be rather lame if I didn't.
The book's about the making of an advert for Blackstock tires, an American company trying to make a name in Britain. It stars Joe Strider and Rebecca Richards, young stars of Dawson's Creek-type show, All Our Lives Before Us. Rebecca, a Brit, had been dating Joe (a yank), until he filmed Body Matter with Keven French (who also happens to be the director of the advert in question, since he and the adman go way back). Joe's star is on the rise due to this, and he's holding that over Kevin, who believes that he needs to make Body Matter II in order to keep his career (sadly, Hollywood really does value actors over directors). Joe also dumped Rebecca for their young co-star, Greta Bastendorff (an oversight on Beaumont's part, I think; he made her seventeen which, while acceptably young here, is completely illegal and much more shocking over there).
Joe has become a complete diva; he demands extra staff, a new bed, and constantly belittles Rebecca. Then there's the runner, the PA, the executive-in-charge-of-jellybeans, the adman, the amateur drug dealer turned bouncer (who christens Rebecca 'Extra-Large Tits and Rizlas' after he spots her being searched at the airport), the hairdresser, Norman the Cook, and a whole host of other characters, all with their own viewpoint. Some are only in for a few scenes, others comment throughout the entire novel.
The book just makes me laugh. A lot. That's what I really like about it. From the first page, I was giggling my little head off. And it's just gone midnight, and I've been working on this post intermittently for almost a week now, so I'll leave it at that.
