Ancestral Vices [Paperback]

Tom Sharpe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997

Tom Sharpe is in top form- outrageously funny- Left-wing academics, right-wing capitalists, true-blue country gentry, workers, peasants, police and lawyers - all take custard pies full in the face in this boisterous knockabout farce' The Listener. 'A novelist who has broken out of the pack, established a wholly distinctive style- such a keen eye for the ridiculous and marvellous ability to puncture it' Scotsman. 'An immense gift for social satire- the action is unflagging' Daily Telegraph. 'There's almost no one funnier' Observer.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Tom Sharpe is in top form… outrageously funny. Left-wing academics, right-wing capitalists, true-blue country gentry, workers, peasants, police and lawyers – all take custard pies in the face in this boisterous knockabout farce.”
—Listener --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Tom Sharpe was born in 1928 and educated at Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He did his national service in the Marines before moving to South Africa in 1951, where he did social work before teaching in Natal. He had a photographic studio in Pietermaritzburg from 1957 until 1961, and from 1963 to 1972 he was a lecturer in History at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology. He is the author of sixteen bestselling novels, including Porterhouse Blue and Blott on the Landscape, which were serialised on television, and Wilt, which was made into a film. In 1986 he was awarded the XXIIIeme Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret, and in 2010 he was awarded the inaugural BBK La Risa de Bilbao Prize. He is married and divides his time between Cambridge, England, and northern Spain. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: Pan Books (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330266357
• ISBN-13: 978-0330266352
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,046,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't know how he does it!, September 8, 2007

By 

Allison Peligrino (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancestral Vices (Paperback)

In short: a strait-laced Professor is asked to write a tell-all book about the less-than-perfect Petrefacts.

To the average writer, this scenario could probably get a little tee-hee from the readers, but leave it to Sharpe to throw into the mixture the riotous "Ablution Bath", some midgets (or PORG - Persons of Unrestricted Growth), a sex toy factory, an outrageous interrogation / Silence Of The Lambs-themed chapter, and a crazy carwash incident and you get Tom Sharpe at his best yet again. Even the scene where Lord Petrefact explains to Croxley what he'd like served for dinner is a gem on its own.

Now, I'm the type who throws a book to the nearest bin when the ending is less than ideal but somehow, whenever I read Tom Sharpe's books, as far off as they are to having conventional happy endings, I always manage to put them back on my shelf with a huge smile on my face. So do yourself a favour and grab this book - I'm sure you owe yourself a good long laugh!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterically Funny!, January 10, 2003

By 

Dorothy Andres (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancestral Vices (Paperback)

Introduced to Tom Sharpe's work by a Brit friend, I can't get enough of this amazing author! "Ancestral Vices" literally made my cry with laughter. Yapp's horrifying experience with the "Ablution Bath" sent me into gales of giggles, as did the run amok motorized wheelchair scenario. Lord Petrefact, Willie Coppett, the sex toy factory...all of it was enough to make a cat laugh. Sharpe is warped, twisted, and totally delightful! Simply, hysterically funny!

3.0 out of 5 stars Not great, not bad, January 6, 2011

By 

alistairville (San Francisco Bay Area, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ancestral Vices (Paperback)

"Ancestral Vices" (1980) is a fair quality Tom Sharpe outing but definitely not among his best. If you're new to Tom Sharpe then you're in for a treat if you read "Blott on the Landscape" or "Wilt". Tom Sharpe is an equal opportunity disliker - whether you're liberal, conservative, gay, straight, industrialist, environmentalist, rich, or poor - there's probably a nasty word for whatever you identify with. Knowing this helps you enjoy and laugh at his satirical and often quite evil humor. I have reread Tom Sharpe many times because he can be riotously funny. In "Ancestral Vices" the funny passages are rather sparse.