Don't Point that Thing at Me [Paperback]

Kyril Bonfiglioli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2004

The deliciously nasty, highly entertaining, comic masterpiece of a thriller-a cult favorite of Stephen Fry and Julian Barnes. A cult classic in the UK since its first publication there in the 1970s, Don't Point that Thing at Me is the hilarious and dark humored crime thriller featuring the Honorable Charlie Mortdecai: degenerate aristocrat, amoral art dealer, seasoned epicurean, unwilling assassin, and general knave-about-Piccadilly. With his thuggish manservant Jock, Mortdecai endures all manner of nastiness involving secret police, angry foreign governments, stolen paintings, and dead clients, all just to make a dishonest living—while decked out in the most stylish garb and drinking the most bizarre alcoholic cocktails. Don't miss the brilliant mixture of comedy, crime, and suspense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Charlie Mortdecai will appeal to listeners because he hovers in the gray area between right and wrong. He’s absolutely charming and cultured as he relates his illegal pursuits in the world of arts and antiques. Prebble’s mature raspy voice enhances Mortdecai’s appeal as he navigates listeners through this first hand account of his adventures in the United Kingdom and the United States as he delivers and acquires highly sought-after goods. Accompanied by his intelligent but gruff servant, Jock Strapp, Mortdecai uses his keen wit, quick thinking, and upper-class esteem to manage his way out of some zany predicaments. Although perhaps a little older sounding than the "middle aged" Mortdecai, Prebble’s timing, tone, and emphasis in this very sarcastic narrative more than makes up for the discrepancy. Unfortunately, poor sound editing leaves over half a dozen instances where Prebble’s voice audibly shifts, ruining the pre-established pace and tone as if the segment was re-recorded and slipped into the original piece. These distractions only briefly deter the listener from full encapsulating themselves in this enjoyable tale.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Just read the first page of this book and try to keep a straight face. Then try to put the book down. You won't be able to do either one. This cult classic (the first of a trilogy), about louche, sybaritic Charlie Mortdecai, an art dealer largely untroubled by conscience, draws readers into its unpolitically comic world and keeps them there. The plot concerns Mortdecai's efforts to keep one step ahead of nemesis Martland, a policeman vested with the power to work outside the law, and to deliver a stolen Goya he has concealed in the headliner of his Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. The plot takes him to America (where is he much bemused by the locals, and they by him) and back again, ending in a most intriguing predicament. Wry and dry, picaresque and profane, a book like this can be so hard to describe that efforts to do so—invoking some or all of P. G. Wodehouse, Kingsley Amis, Vladimir Nabokov, even Hunter S. Thompson and John Kennedy Toole—give the impression that it's a Frankenstein's monster. Not true. Bonfiglioli's Mortdecai is a true original, and there's nothing quite so hard to describe as that. Graff, Keir

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP; Ex-Library edition (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585675628
• ISBN-13: 978-1585675623
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Deliciously Droll Caper, May 11, 2000

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Don't Point That Thing at Me! (Library of Crime Classics) (Paperback)

This is a reprint of an exceedingly witty English book from 1970 in which the wordplay and piercing descriptions far outweigh the enjoyment to be gotten from the actual plot, which features stolen art, blackmail, double crossing, etc... There is plenty of foreshadowing, so you aren't surprised at the rather bleak ending, but the journey there is highly entertaining. Imagine a crime thriller written by P.G. Wodehouse, and you might get a feel for the type of dry Brit humor to be found here.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scandelous, preposterous, delightful., September 4, 2000

By 

Sebastian Opol "Sandwich Island" (Anchorage, AK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Point That Thing at Me! (Library of Crime Classics) (Paperback)

I agree with Stephen Fry:"You couldn't snuggle under the duvet with anything more disreputable and delightful". And it is available from www.amazon.co.uk under the title THE MORTDECAI TRILOGY! How delicious.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Your Manservant is Named Jock Strapp...., October 6, 2004

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Don't Point that Thing at Me (Paperback)

When the detective in the mystery has a manservant named Jock Strapp, you get a pretty good idea of what to expect. It's a detective story, well sort of as the hero is not all that honest himself, even when he's sober. So you combine the stolen paints, the secret police, a dead client, and the obligatory ravishing young widow -- and it's hard to make a dishonest living.

This is the first of a series of British mysteries beginning in 1972. It's written by an art dealer. But as the introduction says, This is not an autobiographical novel: It is about some other portly, dissolute, immoral and middle-aged art dealer. The rest of the characters are quite imaginary too, especially that Mrs. Spon, but most of the places are real.

Popular enough to have assumed almost cult status in England, I'm glad to see that it's finally crossed the pond.