The Contortionist's Handbook: Amazon.co.uk: Craig Clevenger: 9781931561488: Books

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Review

"What sticks about this remarkable debut are its pitch-perfect shock ending and John Vincent himself--his complex, conflicted mind, original voice, and unnervingly self-defeating existence."

Irvine Welsh, Guardian

'an utterly persuasive and compelling novel, combining zest and enthusiasm...with the craft and guile of a veteran.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a concise summary of the contortionists handbook, 2 May 2005

By

"cabbage_leaf" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contortionist's Handbook (Paperback)

BUY THIS BOOK IF:
You have any interest in psychiatric or psychological matters
You like masses of detail
You like masculine, relatively unemotional biographies
You enjoy books which start in the present and then explain what happened to get to that point.
You have an interest in drug culture
You would rather be left to think at the end of the book than have all the loose ends neatly tied up. This book ends in a mess of ends.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK IF:
You like books which start in the present and continue along a standard time scale of chapter 1: two days later, chapter 5: next month, etc.
You like lots of emotions in your books
You cannot handle very long, very detailed sentences
You like books which 'go somewhere' and finish in a very different place to where they started.

The story of a man who constantly changes identites in order to escape from various authorities. he is actually running away from many things, including his past and a dozen authorities all over america. After his fifth overdose, psychiatrists cannot figure out whether it was a suicide attempt or not. As the psychiatrist takes 'Daniel' through the interview, 'Daniel' (or John, or Steven, or Eric, whoever he is today) takes the reader through his life story to how he got where he is.

Good page-turner.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book - looking forward to his next, 22 April 2005

By A Customer

This review is from: The Contortionist's Handbook (Paperback)

I picked up this book to read a page or two and next thing I knew half an hour had passed me by.
It's very well written. The writer has done his homework, writes with great authority, and entertains.
I'm looking forward to his next: Dermaphoria.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever Clevenger!, 26 Sep 2006

By

Cazza (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contortionist's Handbook (Paperback)

What a fantastic read! Chuck Palaniuck's recommendation caught my eye and was enough for me to snap this up! I'm glad I did! The novel follows the antics of Daniel Fletcher, a man who is constantly changing his identity. He is so good at it that he can fool anyone and everyone, even the authorities and the psychiatrist brought in to analyse him. He is a great character and Clevenger writes the part so well.
His conversations with the psychiatrist are particularly captivating as he is able to anticipate every move, every gesture and every question posed to him. Clevenger is a stickler for the smallest details and that's what makes him a great writer - I'm sure he could write about fly-fishing and I'd be equally fixated!
I loved it from start to finish. Short, but extremely sweet.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A hell of his own making.
With recommendations from both Chuck Palahniuk and Irvine Welsh, I had high hopes for this book and thankfully I wasn't disappointed. Read more

Published 3 months ago by vi