Twelve Grand - Softcover

Rendall, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0224051490 ISBN 13: 9780224051491

Publisher: Yellow Jersey, 1999

Synopsis

Hello, is that Jonathan Rendall?' 'Speaking. ' 'My name's Rachel Cugnoni. I'm calling from Yellow Jersey Press and I have a proposal for you. I'm looking for someone to give £12, 000 to but the catch is they have to spend it all on gambling - horses, the dogs, casinos, boxing, golf, footie, that sort of thing - and then write a book about it. Any profits made are entirely that person's but if they lose it all I still want my book. It's high risk but with-out wanting to assume too much, I've heard a bit about you and somehow I thought it may appeal. Think about it - you'd have the opportunity to lay some serious bets offering serious returns, you could play hard ball in poker games for once, even go to Vegas and, as I said, those winnings are yours to blow in whatever way you wish'. 'When do I start?

About this title

Review:

I'll get straight to the point: you probably have to be a gambler to really enjoy reading this.

The book is all about indulgence, mainly on the betting front, although sex, booze and drugs are also high up on the inebriated agenda. The other caveats (do you need any more?) are that swearing and blasphemy feature regularly.

But the most frustrating aspect of the book is that the author sometimes uses abbreviations for common words. It is not always obvious what he means, although you get the general gist.

The main character is clearly in a state of (alcoholic) decline as he relates what he does with the £12,000 given him by a publishing company (coincidentally, Yellow Free Press, the book's publishers) to fritter away on gambling. He ends up waging a "silent war" against a lot of things in his life, some of them imaginary; a state of mind induced by his almost-perpetual intoxicated condition?

Despite its obvious faults, it is a clever and sometimes humorous book that gets you thinking.

It neatly alternates between the past and present, until the twain inevitably meet, and it is an interesting read on the whole, as long as you do not mind the bad language, etc.

You (eventually) end up feeling sorry for the writer and applaud his raw honesty, although you sometimes feel intoxicated yourself reading the book, particularly the fuzzy ending.

Review:

"Twelve Grand is a fantastic book - so few provide the reader pleasure any more. This is a book that approaches 'truth'. A great book" (Thom Jones)

"A gallop to the gates of a personal hell which is breathtakingly redeemed by its originality and ability to fascinate" (Herald)

"This is a clever book, with a vulnerable heart inside its tough outer shell... Absolutely cracking" (Independent)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yellow Jersey
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0224051490
• ISBN 13: 9780224051491
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256