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The Isle of Dogs (Paperback)

by Daniel Davies (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Serpent's Tail (7 May 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1846686598
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846686597
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 93,710 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

`Davies writes lean prose. He keeps up the suspense while infusing his portrait of a celebrity-obsessed nation with laconic wit' --Financial Times

Bookseller

'Around the unusual, Houellebecqian story, Daniel Davies has created a recognisable but unflattering portrait of modern Britain with a nod to JG Ballard' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The English Houllebecq, 24 Jun 2008
This review is from: The Isle of Dogs (Paperback)
For my money, the best British novel this year. If you enjoyed John Niven's KILL YOUR FRIENDS, Houllebecq's ATOMISED and WHATEVER, or AMERICAN PSYCHO, read this. This short, readable book moves effortlessly from being laugh-out-loud funny to genuinely sinister, and wears its (estimable) intellectual weight very lightly. Davies' eye for the detail of real English life is absolutely perfect - the shopping centres, buses, simmering hostilities and mind-numbing boredom of the suburbs are beautifully evoked. As long as titles like this are being left to languish, then British publishing deserves to be in the state it is. An absolute work of genius.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Passable Window into a Subculture of Sex, 3 Nov 2008
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Isle of Dogs (Paperback)
Jeremy Shepherd is the carefully coiffed ambitious editor-in-chief of a glossy London fashion magazine. One day he has an existential crisis/nervous breakdown and comes to the realization that his work is totally meaningless, and, for that matter, so is his cosmopolitan semi-glamorous life. This leads him to the inexorable conclusion that he needs to radically reboot his life while taking Maslow's hierarchy of needs as his new model. He chucks his fancy job, sells his swish flat, gives away his designer clothes, and moves to back to the anonymous middle-English town he came from, to live with his parents. This is all part of his master plan to simplify his life so that he can concentrate on his primary need, which is lots of sex, preferably anonymous and with no attachments. Thus, the reader is plunged into an insider account of "dogging" -- the practice of outdoor sex with strangers.

This is fairly interesting -- as most insider accounts of subcultures are -- but little more than that. The book clearly tips its hat to its sexually transgressive fictional ancestors of JG Ballard's Crash, Michel Houllebecq's Whatever and Platform, Marie Darrieussecq's Pig Tales, Helen Walsh's Brass, et al (none of which I've read). However, it's hard to imagine anyone being that shocked by the swinger's lifestyle depicted here. This becomes a bit of a problem, since the story attempts to build a sense of menace revolving around the violent reaction of nameless/faceless local yobs to the "perverts" who meet at night in parking lots and country lanes. Davies tries hard to invoke larger ideas revolving around the surveillance society and the extent to which modern Westerners have become so self-aware that they are "performing" their lives, rather than living them. This might have felt fresh and interesting ten or fifteen years ago, but merely feels like reheated leftovers now.

Eventually, this little travelogue into the sordid runs out of places to go and the story struggles to create tension as the cops crack down on the local sex gatherings. Events get rather rushed and the story wraps up in a somewhat unsatisfactory manner -- although the book's final two words contain a nicely done twist which is well worth sticking around for. On the whole, a passable diversion that provides a window into a strange subculture -- but that's about all.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars eye opening read, very enjoyable, 11 July 2008
This review is from: The Isle of Dogs (Paperback)
I admit I did not know much about "dogging" before I read this book and wow, what an eye opener! I really did not realise this kind of thing went on. the story itself was very well written, I enjoyed the writing style and the way the plot developed.
what begins as harmless fun soon becomes something deeper and darker and way more sinister and I became totally absorbed. I read this book in one sitting. although I had an inkling of how the story would end the route there was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and for the simple pleasure of curling up in the evening to read a good book cover to cover I would highly recommend this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

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3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great
"A work of genius"? No - not at all. "The Isle of Dogs" is a fast, enjoyable read, but it is merely that. Read more
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