The Fandom of the Operator [Paperback]

Robert Rankin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

Gary Cheese is 19 and works for British Telecom as an operator. His hobbies include watching TV, walking his dog, going down to the pub, and attempting to re-animate the dead.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Upon "the tragic early death" of British spoofmaster Rankin, his latest novel was dictated from the beyond to medium Lorretta Rune or so claims the book's back-flap author description. Longtime fans know better, of course: Rankin is a master of sophisticated (and sophomoric) practical jokes. His novels are cult classics in England and are attracting a growing following in the U.S. In this installment, Gary Charlton Cheese, abused child, serial killer, amateur necromancer, rabid fan of deceased writer P.P. "Charles" Penrose and bulb boy at the local telephone exchange, decides to "change things" in his boring life. Then he discovers, with the assistance of another employee, that the telephone exchange harbors a secret: FLATLINE, a phone line to the dead. "You dial in the full name of the deceased and the date of their departure. Then times the figure that comes up on the screen by the age of the person when they died and take away the year they were born and, wallah, you have your dialing code," explains a developmental services employee to Cheese. And voil , Cheese finds himself in communication with the dead. Subsequently, a whole new world opens up for the put-upon hero, whose wife, Sandra, has been shagging other guys, including his "bestest friend" in the whole world, Dave. Now he can talk to his dead dad or, say, Elvis but more importantly, he can dial up Penrose. The convoluted plot invariably leads to the question all fans must ask their favorite author "Where do you get your ideas from?" and the answer is revealed in the inimitable, roundabout Rankin way. Happily ridiculous and relentlessly funny, this is just the ticket for those who like dark British farce.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Happily ridiculous and relentlessly funny, this is just the ticket for those who like dark British farce.” -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 389 pages
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552148970
• ISBN-13: 978-0552148979
• Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 4.2 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,579,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Try the Audiobook!, July 12, 2005

By 

JustSomeReader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fandom of the Operator (Paperback)

I borrowed this from the library as an audiobook before a roadtrip and loved it. I think though, being an American and prone to reading things with an American's timing, rather than a Brit's, that I would have missed the humor had I not heard it read by the author. This book is funny, but exponentially more funny read aloud by Rankin. Reading it to myself, I would have likely rated it much lower, as I think I'd have mistimed the delivery.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars audio version is a must have, July 3, 2008

By 

Xava (athens, ga United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fandom of the Operator (Paperback)

I agree with another reviewer... I listened to the audio version, his dry wit and sarcasm came across in a way that I'm not sure would have by reading it in print, especially since Rankin is the speaker as well. I highly recommend the audio version over print. I wish more of his books were available in audio, in fact!

4.0 out of 5 stars Not awesome, not bad either. You got a couple of hours?, November 26, 2007

By 

Sarah Straight "Riot Grrl Literatus" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fandom of the Operator (Paperback)

Robert Rankin's books are kind of like a really good BBC television show. Superficially, they don't take a lot of brainpower to comprehend, they're hysterically funny, and there are really only like, six characters in the whole series.

Conversely, the real reason they're so funny is because there's a core of intelligence and education to them that one rarely sees in American media. I've actually learned quite a few interesting things in researching offhand jokes about obscure historical characters, for instance.

All in all, I'd never call any of his novels life-changing gems of intellectualism, but I'm always pretty glad that I've read them.