- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (30 Jan 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0749396806
- ISBN-13: 978-0749396800
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.4 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 69,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Bored and broke, Morris Duckworth, an English teacher in Verona, stumbles on a plan for financial salvation - to marry Massimina, a seventeen-year-old student. And if his intentions are frustrated by a suspicious, conservative family, is it any fault of his that the lovely girl chooses to elope? Obsessed by self-advancement and excitement, Morris' dreams of blackmail, theft and murder plunge him deep into a chilling nightmare of deception and violence.
About the Author
Born in Manchester, Tim Parks grew up in London and studied at Cambridge and
Harvard. In 1981 he moved to Italy where he has lived ever since. He is the author of
novels, non-fiction and essays. He has won the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and
Llewellyn Rhys awards, and been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He lectures on literary translation in Milan, and his many translations from the Italian include works by
Moravia, Calvino, Calasso and Machiavelli.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
funny and engaging,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cara Massimina (Paperback)
Funny, dark, and according to my italian friends, an amusingly accurate picture of a slice of italian life.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly tremendous black comedy,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cara Massimina (Paperback)
This is a brilliantly written piece of black humour. It really is very funny and well worth a read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A narcissist with psychopathic tendencies,
By
This review is from: Cara Massimina (Paperback)
Tim Parks quietly and subtly creates characters from their actions, thoughts and demeanour in this highly skilfull and engaging thriller. We meet Morris Duckworth, a language teacher barely scraping a living in Verona. Sometimes he speaks into a little recording machine, to his father, searching for the right bon mot to describe the grudge he bears for his abusive upbringing. This seems to consist mainly in the fact that his father despised him because he wasn't a beer-drinking, pizza guzzling darts-playing "real" man. One feels a certain sympathy for Morris, or Morri, as his Italian girlfriend Massimina calls him, but at the same time his contempt for his students, his liking for solitude and the pretensions he displays when introduced to Massimina's family, warn the reader that all is not well in Morris's skewed little world. Massimina's mother decides to end their friendship - she quite naturally wants her 17 year-old daughter to complete her studies and has caught him out in several lies that Morris has foolishly told to impress her with his future prospects.
But Signora Trevisan has reckoned without Massimina's feelings for Morris, and so it is they run away together. Morris's subsequent exploits lead to further, more desperate actions - which he justifies to himself on the grounds that he has been badly treated by life. Morris is a narcissist with psychopathic tendencies, but as with all such sufferers, he is careful of his own well-being, and though he cares more for the appearance of his relationship than the reality, he comes to love Massimina, until, that is, she does or says something that does not fit in with his construction of the world. The reader very early begins to fear for her safety. This book makes for a riveting and entertaining read, a thriller where one is half-hoping for the anti-hero to come to his senses, and half-hoping he will be exposed and locked away somewhere so he can do no more damage. The book ends on a note that strikes fear in the heart of the reader.
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