- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd (25 Mar 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0241141400
- ISBN-13: 978-0241141403
- Product Dimensions: 18 x 13 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 793,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Ben and Olly are best friends, and it's Ben who tells the story of what happened that autumn, starting right at the end of the summer holidays: how Carl moved into the street and everything changed forever.
About the Author
William Sutcliffe is the bestselling author of New Boy and Are You Experienced?, which has sold over 200,000 copies in Penguin. He lives in North London.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the first William Sutcliffe book I have read and what drew me to it was the front cover or, more specifically, the expression on the boy's face pictured on the cover: young, but not at all innocent, chilling even. And indeed Bad Influence is a truly chilling book, though initially it begins in a very humourous vein and I honestly can't remember having laughed out loud so much while reading a book.
Sutcliffe introduces us to Ben, the main character. Ben is ten and Sutcliffe's portrayal of Ben's life, emotions and actions are amazingly accurate. The humour in this book comes from the fact that we can all identify with Ben and what is was like to be ten and think the thoughts of a ten year old. One example being where Ben describes his best friend being taken away as like someone "confiscating your legs", followed by the admission "It's not really like that. If someone pulled off your legs, you'd bleed to death." Many of the initial anecdotes ring so true; many of them, particulary regarding Ben's siblings, actually happened to me!
Sutcliffe introduces us to Ben, the main character. Ben is ten and Sutcliffe's portrayal of Ben's life, emotions and actions are amazingly accurate. The humour in this book comes from the fact that we can all identify with Ben and what is was like to be ten and think the thoughts of a ten year old. One example being where Ben describes his best friend being taken away as like someone "confiscating your legs", followed by the admission "It's not really like that. If someone pulled off your legs, you'd bleed to death." Many of the initial anecdotes ring so true; many of them, particulary regarding Ben's siblings, actually happened to me!
But Sutcliffe doesn't only capture the funny side of being ten, he also portrays a realistic picture of the chilling side too. I doubt any reader will fail to identify with the peer pressure Sutcliffe so honestly and brutally subjects his main character to. The need to fit in, the need to be the best friend, the jealousy, the pride, the pain of rejection, the lengths children will go to to be accepted. Bad Influence has it all, and while the majority of readers won't have gone to the extremes of the main characters in this book, I believe that every reader will have experienced each and every emotion within Bad Influence.
This is a powerful book, delightful, humourous, touching, brutal and ultimately shocking. Never before have I felt that a writer has so accurately stepped into the shoes of a child's mind and heart. Buy this book - you won't regret it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Following on from his previous successes, this book - to my mind - stands out as William Sutcliffe's best yet. The kid who tells the story here - Ben - starts hanging around with a bad kid called Carl. He doesn't like Carl, but his best friend Olly does, so in an effort to fit in he does what Carl says. Although when things go too far he decides to drop Olly as a friend, the loneliness of his social isolation soon has him scampering back to fit in. However, under Carl's control, things begin to escalate out of control.
Sutcliffe narrates the story brilliantly from a 10 year olds perspective and - particularly early on - there are some very funny bits (Ben's diagrans in particular). But the main strength of the book is how it puts into perspective a lot of the media coverage we consume that concentrates on evil children. It shows how a normal good kid can, under the control of a genuine little horror, quite easily end up doing unspeakable things.
My only regret is that William Sutcliffe does not write more prolifically, as he is very talented at his genre.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read Are You Experienced and it was the first book to actually make me laugh aloud. After reading his other books I read his latest, Bad Influence, and it's the second book to have me laughing. It's so accurate and well written and funny I couldn't put it down and Ben is a great character. Thoroughly enjoyable, I can't wait to see what William comes up with next!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
First Class. Funny, menacing and poignant
I was looking for an audiobook to listen to on a long car journey and selected this one, largely because it was good value for money, and I did not have time to search longer. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Sir Furboy
Bad boys
I tested this book out on a 14-year-old boy, who pronounced it "Not bad," - though he also said that the `bad' character, Carl, would not have committed the crime that happens at... Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
highly original
A quick, engrossing read - VERY different to his previous books but still highly wothwhile. Original and fscinating - horribly believable as you follow the chain of events to their... Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2005
A brilliant look at peer pressure.
William Sutcliffe has done it once more, with a cracking read about childhood identity. He lets us back into a world we've left behind and reminds us of those irrational fears that... Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2004 by Will Scarlet
Clever and funny
I found this book very entertaining and also touching. It convincinglyconveys the complicated feelings that I remember as a pre-teen boy whenthe world of my friends, and that of my... Read more
Published on 21 April 2004 by "greenhillward"
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