|
The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of his friend M...
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
A voraciously original travelogue through the American century, a love letter to modernity, and a hilarious and often tender insight into the monster of celebrity. O'Hagan's portrait of Sinatra has to rate among the finest and funniest ever written ... O'Hagan has created a comic genius ... Glorious. --Evening Standard
A virtuoso act of ventriloquism ... The terrible pathos of the human and canine condition is never far from the glittering surface of this marvellously imaginative, clever, entertaining and profoundly melancholy novel. --Sunday Telegraph
It's staggering, joyous and somewhat unnerving that [O'Hagan's] new book, in a classic critic-confounding way, should be anarchic, over-the-top, irreverent and gleeful. There is an elegiac undertow, but one that only serves to make the dazzle and delight all the more piquant. --Scotland on Sunday
An absolutely delightful, stylishly written, gorgeously lyrical novel. The Life And Opinions ... is his fourth and best yet. --Herald
A subtle, funny and moving study of America on the eve of one of its periods of greatest crisis ... Maf the canine savant is a shrewd observer of the modern age and of the American century, a veritable Tocqueville for our times.
--John Banville, Guardian
A virtuoso act of ventriloquism ... The terrible pathos of the human and canine condition is never far from the glittering surface of this marvellously imaginative, clever, entertaining and profoundly melancholy novel. --Sunday Telegraph
It's staggering, joyous and somewhat unnerving that [O'Hagan's] new book, in a classic critic-confounding way, should be anarchic, over-the-top, irreverent and gleeful. There is an elegiac undertow, but one that only serves to make the dazzle and delight all the more piquant. --Scotland on Sunday
An absolutely delightful, stylishly written, gorgeously lyrical novel. The Life And Opinions ... is his fourth and best yet. --Herald
A subtle, funny and moving study of America on the eve of one of its periods of greatest crisis ... Maf the canine savant is a shrewd observer of the modern age and of the American century, a veritable Tocqueville for our times.
--John Banville, Guardian
Book Description
An utterly unique new novel from one of Britain's most exciting literary writers.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I so wanted to like this book. Not only had I just read the wonderful Me Cheeta: The Autobiography which has similar elements (an animal narrating), but I've read Andrew O'Hagan's writing before Personality and really enjoyed it.
The premise is that the story is told from the point of view of a dog, Maf, who by convoluted means ends up being owned by Marilyn Monroe, thanks to Frank Sinatra.
Maf is a philosophical dog, who - in the same vein as the aforementioned Cheeta - believes he's far superior to any human and it shows in the commentary.
There are very funny moments in the book and I think the conceit is a brilliant one, but I found eventually found the narrator a tiresome presence and what should have been a five-star book, ended up as a sort of 3-and-a-half star book.
Doubtless, this has been and will continue to be loved and adored by many, but not me, I'm afraid.
The premise is that the story is told from the point of view of a dog, Maf, who by convoluted means ends up being owned by Marilyn Monroe, thanks to Frank Sinatra.
Maf is a philosophical dog, who - in the same vein as the aforementioned Cheeta - believes he's far superior to any human and it shows in the commentary.
There are very funny moments in the book and I think the conceit is a brilliant one, but I found eventually found the narrator a tiresome presence and what should have been a five-star book, ended up as a sort of 3-and-a-half star book.
Doubtless, this has been and will continue to be loved and adored by many, but not me, I'm afraid.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
- mostly. The tone is obviously tongue in cheek: This dog that is more human than humans, regarding and reading how the humans feel, think and behave. At the same time the dog is philosophising and downright bragging of his literary knowledge and acquaintances in language so arch as to be past silly. So Marilyn is upstaged by her clever dog and she is viewed obliquely, distantly by the reader whose sympathy is engaged but not the sentimentality that could so easily overpower this subject matter. For all the dog's posturings he really is quite wise in places and makes some interesting conjunctions. Something about him reminds me of Tolstoy. He is impartial, kindly even, whilst noting and describing the great fragility, emptiness and nastiness of some of the human protagonists.Marilyn is portrayed as thoughtful and sincere.
I get the impression that the author really enjoyed writing this book, finding in it the opportunity to gather a great heap of glittery ephemera, dog related and other. I wonder if he did it for fun rather than for publishing and then thought that with as good a reputation as his he could get away with it.I think he has got away with it despite some confusing and dense extraneous parts that would have been better left out and the slightly uncomfortable dog's eye view conceit that gets just a little tiresome.
I get the impression that the author really enjoyed writing this book, finding in it the opportunity to gather a great heap of glittery ephemera, dog related and other. I wonder if he did it for fun rather than for publishing and then thought that with as good a reputation as his he could get away with it.I think he has got away with it despite some confusing and dense extraneous parts that would have been better left out and the slightly uncomfortable dog's eye view conceit that gets just a little tiresome.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I got this book hearing good reviews about it, expecting something funny, witty and with a refreshing look at the life and times of Marylin Monroe.
Instead, the author sounds like he was raised in a cupboard, constantly ignored by his parents. Every single paragraph feels like a chore to read. It seems like the author has crammed every random, ambulatory thought in there, as the narrative creaks along, just to say "I wrote this!"
A seriously boring novel.
Instead, the author sounds like he was raised in a cupboard, constantly ignored by his parents. Every single paragraph feels like a chore to read. It seems like the author has crammed every random, ambulatory thought in there, as the narrative creaks along, just to say "I wrote this!"
A seriously boring novel.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dullfest
Truly, this novel doesn't work. Please don't waste time and money on it as it is a complete dullfest. Read more
Published 9 months ago by MisterHobgoblin
A delight.
The rolling prose, the take, the groove.
Couple of sentences as I first began reading this novel:
"The skies were friendly, or so they said. Read more
Couple of sentences as I first began reading this novel:
"The skies were friendly, or so they said. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Vincent Eaton
Maf the Dog
Huge build up in various reviews so was mightily disappointed that this book is almost unreadable. I certainly couldn't be bothered to finish it. What a let down!
Published 10 months ago by Ms. P. H. Carroll
Clever Dog!
Andrew O'Hagan's smart, funny and original novel told from the point of view of Marilyn Monroe's dog Maf, a white poodle, is always entertaining. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jeff Markham
A dog's tale
The premise of this book is that it is written by a dog which is given to Marilyn Monroe as a gift by Frank Sinatra. Read more
Published 13 months ago by A. Skudder
Not quite what it seemed
I was looking forward to this book as it looked to be about subjects I'm interested in but told in a new way. Very original. Read more
Published 16 months ago by P. Wilkinson
My Mum loved it for a holiday getaway
Ok so I'll own up. I got this for my mum in mind. She went on holiday and wanted an easy read to while away the hours. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. P. J. Coombe
Error on LASSIE facts
LASSIE lived at the Pilot Boat Inn, Lyme Regis. In 1915 the HMS Formidable became the first boat sunk in WWI by a German U-boat. Read more
Published 16 months ago by lucath
PLease, it's too sweet.
At first I thought the idea of the dog telling the story would be enchanting, appealing, and weirdly good. Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. E. M. Kneale
Why?
A rather pointless piece of anthropomorphism. Nothing new is revealed about Monroe or Hollywood stardom. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Useless Article
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
