Reviews

A Stranger in the Earth by Marcel Theroux

danbydame's review

2.0

selected for its length (under 300 pages) and its promise of amusement ("a witty satire -- had me roaring with laughter at 2 a.m.").

11/3
I experienced none of the promised roaring .. not even a vocalized chuckle or two. Maybe it was trying for "sweet" but it just didn't get past "ho hum".

I did enjoy the main character, and the author's treatment of him. That is probably the only thing that saved this from being a 1 star throwaway. But a plot needs to be either interesting or amusing. A small, predictable plot can be wonderful if treated as a vehicle for humor. I think that was the intent here ... but the humor was so small and gentle that it simply did not satisfy.

I'm not even keeping this one. Its going back to the Book Sale for another chance at finding a loving home.

rosseroo's review

4.0

One night, bored, I went to see Marcel Theroux read from his debut novel at a local bookstore. I enjoyed the old-fashioned wit of his excerpts so much I ended up buying a copy--something I am not prone to do. It took half a year, but when I finally got around to reading it, it was exactly what I expected: a gentle, witty tale of a country bumpkin's move to London to work for his great-uncle's newspaper. There are a boatload of supporting characters who are all utterly believable, with their own quirks and entertaining agendas. One small criticism is the silliness of character names, which slightly detracts from the overall assuredness of the writing. There is a lot going on, but it all resolves more or less satisfactorily, as is the norm in fish-out-of-water stories of this ilk. The one area that could have used a bit more attention was the history of the hero's grandfather. A promising debut.