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A Portrait of the Arsonist as a Young Man
 
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A Portrait of the Arsonist as a Young Man (Paperback)

by Andrew McGuinness (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 300 pages
  • Publisher: bluechrome Publishing (15 Nov 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1906061505
  • ISBN-13: 978-1906061500
  • Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 14.6 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 557,748 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Synopsis

This book contains a 21st Century tale of celebrity-obsession, identity crisis and personality disorder. Ben Tippet's "novel autobiography" is ostensibly a self-portrait, but the arsonist's tale takes broader strokes, painting the landscape of a contemporary world hooked on sex, fame and fortune. Nuanced with literary and pop-cultural references, it explores universal themes of love, loss, sex and death.

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hot! Hot! Hot!, 30 Dec 2008
A fast paced, complex meta-fictional novel from new writer, Andrew McGuinness - part crime story, part love story, part life story, told with audacious humour by Ben Tippet, the first person narrator who is a charmer, a lover, a liar and possibly a murderer. This is a Russian doll of a novel - or perhaps the opposite of a Russian doll, whatever that may be! What I mean is that you start off in the confined world of a tiny prison cell, but as Ben begins to tell the tale of how he came to be in there, awaiting trail for arson and manslaughter, the novel and its parameters just keep on unfolding, revealing all the corners of Ben's pre-prison life - his dysfunctional (and slightly wacky) family, his childhood, his relationships, his dreams and ambitions, and the secrets and deceptions that have festered and fermented for years...

The Arsonist is most definately not a prison novel, but prison does provide some of the most shocking and moving chapters - perhaps because in the telling of his autobiography Ben is the puppet master, but in prison, in the reality of 'now', Ben is both vulnerable and unstable.... a loose cannon that in the blink of an eye could turn on himself or anybody else.

This is a story of a wannabe who could not accept that he might not be. In that sense its a very modern parable. At its heart though, is a timeless love story that warms and dismays in equal measure. A real tragedy in the Shakespearean sense!

To love this novel you do need to feel something for Ben, and you need to accept that his is a self-obsessed, uncompromising view of the world. I think that despite Ben's sometimes naive, often destructive narcism, his humour and warmth does draw the reader in. It certainly worked for me and within twenty or so pages, Ben had me in the palm of his hand and I didnt leave until he tipped me out at the end...shaken, stirred and looking forward to the next novel from this exciting, original new writer.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Its Incendiary, 11 Jun 2009
By Emma "Emma" (South East England) - See all my reviews
Really agree with the previous reviewers. I loved this book and I loved Ben Tippet. Its an energy packed 300 pages. Its really fast and very funny in places, but really moving too. The storyline is a bit of a roller coaster through Ben's life. It is deceptively complex, and when I got to the end I felt like I'd read a much bigger book: it kept turning over in my mind for days. I can't recommend it highly enough. I think if you enjoy a good read you'll like this book, whatever your fictional prefences are.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars So hot its cool!, 9 Jun 2009
I read loads of books but don't really do reviews. This time though, I decided to write one, because this book is fantastic. I couldnt put it down. Ben (the narrator) is an accomplished liar, so as the story teller he spins a great yarn that twists and turns and pulls some big suprises. In that sense, the book works brilliantly as a straightforward, unputdownable narrative novel disguised as memoir. The really clever thing is that when you peel it, what lies beneath the onion skin is layer after layer of other narratives, other meanings, stories only hinted at and references to a lexicon of world literature that you can easily miss - and in a sense it doesnt really matter if you do because its still a great read; but if you catch them (and I bet I missed as many as I found) they really add to the depth and texture of the story and the characters. If all this sounds a bit too 'literary', don't be put off - this books is funny, it flows really smoothly, its easy to read and its compulsive... If you start it, I defy you not to get to the end in record breaking time. And the ending, for all Ben's silver tongued charisma, reminded me of TS Eliot's Prufrock, ....and then I found another ending, the real ending. I think...

As soon as I'd finished I went back onto Amazon to buy more by the writer, and was amazed to find out that this is Andrew McGuinness's only novel - so I'm assuming its his first, which is amazing because its really accomplished. So, bitten by the fire bug I'm about to start reading An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England instead. Looking at the blurb it seems similar, but it starts sort of where A Portrait of the Arsonist ends..so I'm really interested in making a comparison
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4.0 out of 5 stars Try it - it is different
I took this book on holiday with me - it was an impulse buy but certainly not a regrettable one. Think that I finished this book in 2 days; which is quite good for me... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Campbell79

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