Customer Reviews

Getting Rid of Mister Kitchen

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Quite simply one of the funniest books I have ever read. My sides were splitting by the end of the first page and it got funnier from there on in. Fast paced story with lot's of interesting and believable characters. If only all books were this good.

This was the fourth novel from Charles Higson, who has since found fame as writer, producer and performer on the BBC-TV comedy series THE FAST SHOW. His previous novels had set a high standard in their mixture of comedy and thrills, and the new one is no exception, although it does take off at an even more extreme tangent than its predecessors.

The unnamed hero wakes up in a bad mood, not helped by the weather forecaster getting it totally wrong once again, and so, when Mister Kitchen calls around to inspect the car he has for sale, he ends up killing him. As you do. No problem; he simply has to dispose of the body before it's discovered, and then everything will be OK again. He has a good plan, because he's done this kind of thing before, but this is just not his day, and the elements all conspire to defeat his attempts. As he battles against unsurmountable odds he merely digs himself deeper and deeper into the mire, and even consumption of the complete pharmacopoeia of drugs does not seem to help.

Higson has produced a minor classic whose scenes of drug induced frenzy stand comparison with Hunter S Thompson's FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. It's also a very funny book, in the black comedy sense, although with some thought-provoking comments on ecology, evolution, religion, and the British class system. A fast-moving rip-roaring riot of a read.

When I first got this book, I wasn't familiar with the writings of Charles Higson. I was hit by his humour, the pace, and the twists and turns of this hilarious story. I didn't put the book down when I first opened it - I simply had to read it all. It was back in 1997, and since then I've read the book two more times. Even if I know what's to come I enjoy the dialogue and the bizarre scenes. So funny. Since then I've read other books by Charles Higson, but this stays my absolute favourite.

Charlie Higson is better known in the UK for his work on TV, writing comedy sketches and creating bizarre characters.

Moving from quick fire sketches to a novel is clearly going to be a tough transition, and Higson doesnt quite pull it off.

This is the tale of a successful arrogant drug-riddled designer who accidentally kills Mr Kitchen, and his problems disposing of the body.

The book twists and turns, and has some very amusing scenes. It is, as you would expect, more a collection of sketches than a flowing novel, and it does sometimes become tedious.

But overall, a very witty book with enough twists to keep the attention, and a perfect book for a quiet night in.

It appears to be out of print here, but is available from amazon's uk site.