See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

113 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Stickleback
 
 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Stickleback (Paperback)

by John McCabe (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


6 new from £0.01 107 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New edition) 35 used & new from £0.01

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Paper

Paper

by John McCabe
3.9 out of 5 stars (9)  £6.99
Herding Cats

Herding Cats

by John McCabe
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £9.89
Snakeskin (Indaba Mini Curio Series)

Snakeskin (Indaba Mini Curio Series)

by John McCabe
4.8 out of 5 stars (4) 
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Granta Books; New edition edition (22 Mar 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1862072531
  • ISBN-13: 978-1862072534
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,507,083 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
John McCabe, perhaps uniquely for an author, is both a research geneticist and a club DJ. His worlds collide in this stylishly engaging debut novel in which science (the title comes from the utterly predictable courtship routine of the stickleback), street life and good old male angst are all energetically combined. Ian Gillick likes routine. Slaving over a database in Birmingham, Ian's job is to track the £300 billion that pass every day through the hands of investment companies in the City of London. For Ian, routines were "cruise control journeys through mundanity"; his way of making it through days spent in a claustrophobic office with an obsessive Star Trek fan and nights usually spent alone. But routines can go wrong. One morning breakfast goes awry--the habitual orange juice, weak tea and three pieces of toast and marmalade just don't do the trick--and things are never the same again. Ian's shabby but, just, in control world is transformed into a sinister and decidedly out of control one. Drink, computers, love and the petty agonies of office life all feature in this darkly amusing novel as Ian finally finds something worth breaking out of his rut for--the perfect crime. --Nick Wroe --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
A tale of office life, drink, drugs, friendship, love, clubs, football, computer programming, breakfast and a perfect financial heist.

See all Product Description

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, surprising, yet familiar, 3 Feb 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Stickleback (Paperback)
This story is peppered with cynical British humour and much of the commentary on life, which is told through the mind of the central character, is often disturbingly real.

I was particularly amused by the harsh contempt shown for victims of the rat race and the gloomy routine of office life that so many people have to endure. Despite having the relative freedom of being a contractor, the long-suffering Ian Gillick has to contend with all of this in the company of a nerdy colleague who drives him up the wall. This strained relationship almost helps to bind the story together, as well as generate quite a few laughs.

The plot unfolds almost accidentally as Gillick's life shifts from cruise control to chaos, mostly within a short but hectic few weeks. The book combines careful detailed observation with bursts of fast-paced action, all of which manages to be quite engaging despite the dull suburban environment in which everything takes place.

As the days go by, tables turn unexpectedly and mundane lives get turned upside down by a sequence of events, encounters and opportunities. This book was surprisingly difficult to put down and its down-to-earth commentary on life helps to draw you in with its twisted truthful realism. Pretty good.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3.0 out of 5 stars Better than Hornby, but what does that prove?, 24 Nov 2003
This review is from: Stickleback (John McCabe Thrillers) (Paperback)
The book definately improves with repeat reading. I found McCabe's take on the hateful, dark and distressingly dull world of office existence interesting in an I-know-I'm-not-like-that-really kind of a way.

The problem is that this excellent observational piece was taken down a ludicrous direction, to an equally ridiculous finale.

Interesting, amusing and damning on the mid-twenties english male, the book gets confused with what it is and ends up silly.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5.0 out of 5 stars At last....., 4 Sep 2001
...someone who has looked into the abyss of contract research and dared to write of the freaks that inhabit that dark world. I know them all and if you have ever worked in such an environment so will you. This book is great, he makes me laugh and he is funnier, cleverer and all round more believable than all those shysters like Hornby and his dread band of imitaters. He is easy to read without becoming annoyingly facile and for some reason he is ideally suited for public transport readers. However the best thing about him (apart from the 'floordrobe' which was a word missing from my vocabularly up until now but a perfect description of my own clothes storage system) is he describes frighteningly similar urges to kill his colleagues as I feel on a daily basis.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read feel good material
I read this over a week in the summer and enjoyed it thoroughly. The plot itself is interesting enough (in the fact that the heist could reasonably be done) but it was the... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2001 by adrianmcronin@hotmail.com

4.0 out of 5 stars Sharp and snappy
I found this book to be an enjoyable read and dispensed of it in fairly short order. McCabe's fast-paced writing and dialogue combined with short chapters make this a very easy... Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars A Boy's Book Which Won a Girl Over!
Having started with McCabe's second offering, Paper, I decided to give his first a go. Stickleback is a very different piece of fiction. Read more
Published on 11 Jul 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars Diverting but not Deep
McCabe's debut is ostensibly about the male need for routine, as 29 year-old programmer Ian strives to recover from being dumped by his girl by retreating into a shell of... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2000 by A. Ross

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable!
I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. It's a very simple story which is easy to digest, and my only minor gripe would be that the book won't take you very long to read... Read more
Published on 11 Nov 1999 by j.s.white@ncl.ac.uk

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, surprising, yet familiar
This story is peppered with cynical British humour and much of the commentary on life, which is told through the mind of the central character, is often disturbingly real. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars Very "average" read.
If this book was as good as the blurb on the back cover it would win awards. However, it is not. What starts out as a "novel about men's need for routine" turns into a... Read more
Published on 24 Jun 1999

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

The Body Shop

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin Boost
Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

›Shop The Body Shop

  

Up to 75% off Shoes

Shoe Clearance - 75% off Shoes
Save up to 75% on shoes for the whole family.

›Shop clearance shoes

  

Up to 53% off Braun Series Shavers

Braun Series 3 390cc Clean & Renew System Rechargeable Foil Electric Shaver
Get in touch with your smooth side with Braun Series shavers, now with Gillette blade technology.

›Discover Braun Series at Amazon.co.uk

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates