Punchbag - Softcover

Llewellyn, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340707917 ISBN 13: 9780340707913

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 1999

Synopsis

Nick hasn't yet managed to achieve much in his life except a good set of pecs. At thirty-five he has a grotty flat, a stationary car, a teenage son he doesn't know all that well, an ex-girlfriend, Barney's mother, who hates his guts, and no proper job.

Then one of the organisers of a women's conference invites him to San Francisco. She wants him to be a padded assailant, the man inside the hard plastic who beats up women for a living every day. Why not? Though the self-defence classes she runs sound a bit weird, it's a free trip to the States. But Nick has no idea what he's getting into.

About this title

Review

There is much more to Llewellyn than the angular-faced android he plays in Red Dwarf and there is no question of this being another indifferent book produced on the back of a comic actor's success. Llewellyn is a stylist with a black and lucid command of narrative, as well as an astringent grasp of characterisation. His hero, Nick, is looking at his mid thirties with little but a gym-honed body to be proud of. He hates his job as a nightclub bouncer almost as much as his own girlfriend seems to hate him. But when Tara, a speaker at a women's conference, invites him to become a padded assailant in a women's self-defence class in San Francisco, Nick starts to think about this new career opportunity. To some degree, we're into David Lodge territory here: sharply observed comic characters and bizarre situations (often involving profound culture shock). There's also more than a hint of Ben Elton in the capricious narrative and cold eye for contemporary inanities. There are moments when Llewellyn feels obliged to twist his plot into ever more unlikely contortions, but most readers will be prepared to forgive him in light of the exuberant comic invention on display here. --Barry Forshaw

Review

A powerful exposition on male violence, women's fears and the need for rapprochement between the sexes (Good Housekeeping)

'A powerful exposition on male violence, women's fears and the need for rapprochement between the sexes' - Good Housekeeping

'The most original, thought-provoking book I've read in ages... A black comedy about rape, violence and men's attitutudes to women . . . Handled with great sensitivity by a writer who knows exactly when to tickle the funny bone and when to ask some serious questions. . . Comic gift for snappy dialogue and witty set pieces manages to diffuse the most uncomfortable situations. This is really a book for beach bums, not sociology students, and is that rare beast - a commercial novel which just happens to have a serious message. . . The razor-sharp comedy, the acutely observed sexual politics and the underlying serious questions add up to make Llewellyn the rightful heir to Ben Elton' Paul Davies, Mirror

The razor-sharp comedy, the acutely observed sexual politics and the underlying serious questions add up to make Llewellyn the rightful heir to Ben Elton (Paul Davies, Mirror)

The characters are sympathetic and convincing and the story is gripping. The great thing about this novel is that it's actually ABOUTsomething. Readers of the future, looking back at our popular fiction, will see that at least some fin-de-siecle blokes had something on their minds other than babes, beer, best mates, kebabs, shagging, football, classic pop and crap TV' (Independent)

'A funny tale' Peterborough Evening Telegraph

'Llewellyn . . . Is brutally honest as he tackles heartbreaking tales of rape and assault and offers hope for the defenseless to fight back' Coventry Evening Telegraph

'This might sound earnest and polemical and to some extent it is - though with an unexpected element of political complexity . . . It's not a masterpiece of subtlety. But the characters are sympathetic and convincing and the story is gripping. The great thing about this novel is that it's actually ABOUTsomething. Readers of the future, looking back at our popular fiction, will see that at least some fin-de-siecle blokes had something on their minds other than babes, beer, best mates, kebabs, shagging, football, classic pop and crap TV' Independent

Edition details

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0340707917
• ISBN 13: 9780340707913
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320