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Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions
 
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Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions (Paperback)

by Bob Fischer (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions + Who Goes There + Dalek I Loved You (Gollancz S.F.)
Price For All Three: £17.19

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  • This item: Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions by Bob Fischer

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  • Who Goes There by Nick Griffiths

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  • Dalek I Loved You (Gollancz S.F.) by Nick Griffiths

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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks (30 April 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340961724
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340961728
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 130,056 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Personal and engaging . . . anyone who agrees that "Star Wars; was a defining moment of our collective childhood" will love this book' ( The Times )

'Will give anyone from the era of Spam fritters and Blue Riband biscuits a Prustian rush . . . a witty, heartwarming exploration of the light side of SF fandom' ( SFX magazine )

'Amiable and amusing . . . a glimpse into the world of fandom cranked up, on holiday, given licence to be sillier than usual' ( Daily Telegraph )

'Funny and affectionate' (Time Out )

'Guaranteed to make you yearn for days of yore... don’t be surprised to find yourself laughing at more in-jokes than you care to admit' (Focus**** )

'An amiable read' (Independent )

'Will have you hitching aboard the Millennium Falcon to a galaxy overflowing with infinite possibilities' (Metro**** )

'A joyous, irreverent celebration of Britain's secret love of the bizarre' (Gay Times )

'It's hilarious . . . For anyone who has ever liked any of this stuff, there's laughter and nostalgia aplenty' (Nottingham Evening Post )


Product Description

In 1981, the eight-year-old Bob Fischer was entranced by Daleks, Vogons and crack Imperial Stormtroopers.

Almost three decades later, Bob decides to rekindle the affair with a tour of the UK’s sci-fi and cult TV conventions. Freewheeling from Doctor Who to Discworld, Star Wars to Star Trek and Robin of Sherwood to Red Dwarf, he combines misty-eyed memories with a terrifying travelogue of terrible, torturous . . . terror. Or something.

In space, no one can hear you scream. And don't expect much sympathy in Peterborough, either.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions
95% buy the item featured on this page:
Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions 4.3 out of 5 stars (25)
£6.72
Dalek I Loved You (Gollancz S.F.)
2% buy
Dalek I Loved You (Gollancz S.F.) 4.0 out of 5 stars (20)
£4.99
Who Goes There
2% buy
Who Goes There 4.4 out of 5 stars (8)
£5.48
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Customer Reviews

25 Reviews
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 (17)
4 star:
 (5)
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2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious...Touching...Sublime., 20 Jul 2008
By fegMANIA! (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
  
This review is from: Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions (Paperback)
Having spent his youth being transported to other worlds, Bob Fischer takes the opportunity to transport us to his and it turns out to be a very amusing and heartwarming world indeed. It also turns out to be worryingly full of Flamin' Hot Monster Munch, but surely nobody was ever put off reading a book because of a corn-based snack food?

I confess that I bought this book purely as a result of enjoying the author's way with words in the course of his now nightly shows on BBC Radio Tees rather than out of any affinity with the subject matter. I had little or no interest in any of the featured "fandoms", but felt sure it would be a highly entertaining read. This, it transpires, was something of an under-estimation. My lack of in-depth knowledge of most of the subjects covered was not the hindrance I'd feared, because Bob has a real gift for weaving the right amount of 'beginner's info' into each uproarious chapter, and in any case the book is less about the individual "cults" and more an exploration of what it means to be a child of the 1970s and 1980s in a 21st Century world where evil can lurk inside a knitted Ray Winstone doll and Johnny Depp never quite makes it to your pub quiz.

Rites of passage from childhood, adolescence and adulthood punctuate the more literal journey of a year spent attending conventions and other fan events, and while some of these are touchingly personal, they all have a surprisingly universal resonance for anyone of roughly the same generation as the author. There are many pleasing examples of a thought or incident that seemed irrelevant at the time coming back, sometimes years later, to throw a new light on a current situation; as good a demonstration as any of how the seemingly effortless lightness and wit of the prose style mask a real ingenuity at work. In this, and in the way that a knowingly portentous comment will almost always immediately be punctured by some wryly hilarious vulgarity, "Wiffle Lever To Full" brings to mind the autobiographical writings of Clive James, which is no small achievement. A genuine pleasure to read and re-read.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars compulsive and compelling, 21 Jul 2008
By S. Franks (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions (Paperback)
From the minute this book landed on my doorstep I was hooked. Bob brings a warm and gentle treatment of those I previously considered in need of treatment for their obsession with cult TV shows. Above all, Bob managed to make me yearn once more for the simple excitment of a saturday night in front of the telly with Gran and a few blue riband biscuits.

Having eventually accepted my own sci-fi geekishness on finishing the book, I immediately embarked on a Doctor Who marathon. This book was a joy to read and will be for anyone who has ever longed for just 5 more minutes back in those simpler times.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Sheer bliss, 10 Jul 2008
By Duncan Harvey (Lichfield, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions (Paperback)
For those born in the early 70s whose spine once tingled at the sound of a Dalek, watched Lesley Judd make Blakes 7 teleport bracelets on Blue Peter, and fought the holy war in the playground between Spectrum and '64 owners, this is the book for you!

A beautifully written journey through the eccentric world of cult tv conventions, this intertwines nostalgic memories with endearing British self deprecation to produce a real gem of a book.

If you are a fan of any cult TV show, then there's something in this for you. If you're not, then buy it anyway!! It should do for Cult TV, what Fever Pitch did for football.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Warmly Nostalgic
This is not a purist book, there are little stories that the author wrote in his childhood heading every section and a bluffer's guide which is quite handy if you're not familiar... Read more
Published 28 days ago by A. I. Mackenzie

5.0 out of 5 stars A Witty and Lively Trawl Through Sci-Fi Conventions
In this lively book, part-travelogue and part memoir of the author's formative years as a childhood sci-fi fanatic, Bob Fischer takes a tour of that most weird and wonderful of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by A. Foxley

5.0 out of 5 stars A science fiction fan's Fever Pitch- for all males over 35, This. Is. Your. Life!
An absolute delight. This is another in the procession of male memoirs focusing on childhood and adulthood obsessions. Nick Hornby did it with football. Read more
Published 6 months ago by M. W. Hatfield

4.0 out of 5 stars A quest for lost origins
This is a warm-hearted, honest and good-natured account of Fischer's casually eccentric romp through an archipelago of alien worlds - the various fan conventions of the title... Read more
Published 7 months ago by W. J. Angus

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrible title, great book
Wiffle Lever to Full!: Daleks, Death Stars and Dreamy-eyed Nostalgia at the Strangest Sci-fi Conventions

Frankly, I can't believe the negative reviews of this book... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. S. Berry

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant!
This book is wonderful. Mr Fischer has such a gift with words that it was all I could do to stop myself from bursting out loud with laughter on the train. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jezza

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyable!
I really enjoyed this book. It read like a autobiography with nostalgic memories triggered by visits to conventions, mazes and water pistol fights. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. Christopher Williams

4.0 out of 5 stars Softback Nostalgia
This is a warm and affectionate account of one man (sometimes with his girlfriend in tow) exploring the world of fan conventions. Read more
Published 13 months ago by AlanH

5.0 out of 5 stars The Force is strong in this one..
A must read for anyone born in the Golden age of British TV. When Blake's Seven and Dr Who, boosted by the phenomenal success of Star Wars, captured the imaginations of millions... Read more
Published 13 months ago by J. S. Jaques

5.0 out of 5 stars 304 Pages Of Niceness Wrapped Up In A Cosy Quilt Of Nostalgia
As I devoured 'Wiffle Lever to Full!' in its entirety over the course of about a week the book quickly climbed its way up to take its place among others in my mental list of... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. A. Smith

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