Take One Young Man: Amazon.co.uk: Vivien Kelly: Books

Product Description

Product Description
Sam Glass wants to go far. But not up the career ladder. Sam wants to go to Antarctica. Sam is a slave to his pager. A drone in the advertising industry, he spends his days being insulted by bosses, ad agency creatives and clients alike, and his evenings drinking with friends. At twenty-five, he's stuck in a rut of post-university, first-job existence. And he hates it. When he notices an advert for a research job in Antarctica, Sam is galvanised into action: this magical land of snow, ice and utter serenity represents the ultimate escape. While he and his best friend, Henry, endure the gruelling selection procedure, he embarks on both the destruction of his ordered, career-orientated, tidy life, and a string of well-organised, casual affairs. What Sam doesn't bargain for, however, is falling in love. Lively, funny and incredibly perceptive, "Take One Young Man" is a profoundly intelligent and moving novel.

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding first novel, a 'must buy'., 26 Aug 2000

By A Customer

I bought this book on the strength of four sentences that I read at The Richmond Review's website where there is an interview with the author. They were - 'The question of why Leo wanted Kasia to see him as he was then and not as he was now did not cross Kasia's mind. The answer was obvious. The answer was just as clear as Leo's eyes were cloudy, it was as straightforward as Leo's fingers were bent. It was sitting in every crease and fold of Leo's papery skin.' Reading that passage brought a lump to my throat. Any text that has that effect at 0640 hours has to be worth pursuing. It's difficult to discuss this novel without giving too much away. It's told mainly from from the POVs of Sam, aged 25, and Leo, aged 86, both of them extraordinarily convincing considering that the author is female and still in her twenties. If her publishers have the sense to let her follow her instincts, rather than making her conform to theirs, by the time she's a fortysomething she'll have a wonderful backlist. The book also has an unusually interesting heroine and several good subsidiary characters, including a cat and someone you enjoy hating. I like to finish a story knowing more about the world than I did on page one. This book is brilliant on Antarctica. Obviously the author is spellbound by it and conveys the magic to her readers. Sam's job in an advertising agency (where the author was working when she wrote this) also made me understand why we're plagued with those ridiculous TV car ads that, if you're in the market for a car, tell you nothing you want to know and, if you aren't, make you grind your teeth at the senseless waste of money. I'm impatient to read Vivien Kelly's next book.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, poignant, escapist., 11 Feb 2000

By A Customer

This was one of the best books I've read in recent months. It involves some wonderfully drawn characters, the central of which are Sam Glass and his grandfather Leo, who appear to be almost one in the same person. It's a book about grabbing life with both hands and not letting convention stand in one's way; love; what might have been, and how to be just a little reckless! What actually drew me to this particular book was its reference to the Antarctic, which, in fact, is somewhere I yearn to go, for exactly the same reasons as Sam's. I finished the book thinking "What a lucky guy"!

Basically, I loved this book and could highly recommend it to anyone who loves a bit of escapism, romance and laughter, with a bit of weeping thrown in for good measure.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh, snigger then cry, 28 Sep 2000

By A Customer

What an excellent first work by Ms Kelly, You feel you want to hug the characters becuse you get to know them so well. It makes you laugh, snigger and then cry as it unfolds. This lady stands to go a long way and I for one will be waiting for her next.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - please buy this book
I liked the look of this book when I saw it listed on the Amazon web page. I ordered it and I am so glad I did.

It gripped me from the very first page. Read more

Published on 8 May 2000 by diane@lee2773.freeserve.co.uk

4.0 out of 5 stars Slow at first but stay with it
I was not impressed at first, it seemed to drag and I must admit that I did not feel that I cared about the characters. Read more

Published on 16 Mar 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic. Buy it today!
As a cynical male,24 who works in a similar industry in London I was at first a bit unsure of this book when a friend suggested it to me. Read more

Published on 25 Feb 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Relationships ring true in stunning debut novel
Ms. Kelley has done what very few first (or second, third, etc.) time novelists manage to achieve nowadays: The relationships between her characters ring true, they are honest... Read more

Published on 24 Feb 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read - Very 21st century
SEX, some drugs, the office. This book is a real page-turner. It centres around a 25-yr old advertising executive realising that life is just too short not to pursue childhood... Read more

Published on 22 Jan 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars An astonishing first novel.
Considering this is a first novel, this book is quite astonishing. It was pure ecsapism. The warmth and sarcastic humour in the writing is very refreshing and I await her next... Read more

Published on 15 Jan 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars An astonishing first novel.
Considering this is a first novel, this book is quite astonishing. It was pure ecsapism. The warmth and sarcastic humour in the writing is very refreshing and I await her next... Read more

Published on 15 Jan 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book - best of the New Year so far!
The book plots the deconstruction of careerdom by a young advertising executive, Sam Glass, who hates his job in a Soho sweatshop. Sam is plotting his escape to Antarctica. Read more

Published on 11 Jan 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Urban Fairy-tale With A Twist
We all crave escape, no-one more so than exoticist and advertising lackey, Sam Glass.

A scathing yet sensitive debunking of the hypocrisies of modern life; a love-story set in a... Read more

Published on 11 Jan 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, sexy and touching - a great book!
Take One Young Man is about a young guy called Sam who hates his job in advertising and wants to escape. Read more

Published on 6 Jan 2000

› See all 13 customer reviews...

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Take One Young Man (Paperback)

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