- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; New Ed edition (12 Oct 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0749391510
- ISBN-13: 978-0749391515
- Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 1 x 19.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 371,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Noah is a relatively ordinary man. He's a hard worker (he owns the thriving little pleasure boat company, Boating for Beginners), is slightly overweight and has a heart condition. In fact, apart from a bizarre antipathy towards frozen food, particularly Black Forest Gateau, he is Mr. Bog Standard. That doesn't stop him from recognising a good thing when he sees it though. So when he accidentally creates God "out of a piece of gateau and a giant electric toaster", he realises he's onto a winner. Within weeks, he's a cult figure, writes extravagant bestsellers-"Genesis", or How I did It and "Exodus" or Your Way Lies There--and has outlawed refrigerators and Black Forest Gateau. When Noah starts to turn his bestseller into a film, God feels left out and decides to liquidate the world. Noah has less than a week to fill his stage set (the ark) with animals and prepare for a flood. There are three women who find out what he's up to--Desi, Noah's daughter-in-law; Marlene, a transsexual potter, and Gloria, the thoughtful yet slightly unbalanced girl in charge of rounding up the animals. Gloria is the heroine of Boating for Beginners and it is her story that drives the rather fragmented narrative of this surreal satire. Bursting with ideas, Boating for Beginners rewrites religion and philosophy, while taking a pop at romantic fiction. It is perhaps Jeanette Winterson's most overlooked work and although not her best--turn to Oranges are Not the Only Fruit or Sexing the Cherry for that--Boating for Beginners is witty, playful and imaginative. --Jane Honey
Product Description
A pleasure boat company is transformed when the proprietor, Noah, is chosen by the "One True God" to put "sunny" faith back in the world and women back in the kitchen. The author has written "Oranges are Not the Only Fruit",(winner of the 1985 Whitbread award) and "Sexing the Cherry".
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very very funny!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Boating For Beginners (Paperback)
Yes, it's about Noah's ark and the creation, but you don't have to think about the book as the truth! It's just a twist on an old subject made new. I am Italian and I wouldn't consider the text as offensive, it's just a story told by a very crafted author. It's not really for kids, maybe this is more important, unless you children read Northrop Frye....Brillian and sparkling, very little Jeanette but so much fun!
4.0 out of 5 stars
The book she pretends she didn't write,
By
This review is from: Boating For Beginners (Paperback)
This book is hilarious. Unfortunately, Jeanette Winterson usually states that her first book is "Oranges are not the only fruit", thereby denying readers the opportunity of discovering her truly funny first novel.
Set in Biblical times, the book is a retelling of the Noah story. It is nothing like her later, more literary works. Instead there are puns galore, great characters and plenty of hoopooes.
5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic read. Fun and feisty,
By
This review is from: Boating For Beginners (Paperback)
I read this book some time time ago after "Oranges" and thought it was very different but still brilliant. I don't really understand why any reader would find this offensive, after all if you want the story of Genesis as approved by Christians go find the Bible which incidentally isn't written by Jeanette Winterson. Winterson's books are hardly conventional and always have a differnt take on the subject material, this is no different. If an entertaining, thought provoking read that'll have you pondering the origins of Noah, God and a bit more is what you are after, then buy it.
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