It's What He Would've Wanted [Paperback]

Sean Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2000

The Hicksons are a comfortable Blairite family. The sons, Shea and George, return home on Boxing Day to find their father, a minor celebrity TV weatherman, hanging from the light-fittings. This novel dissects and mutilates traditional family values.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Raunchy, irreverent and intermittently amusing, this rambling black comedy tells the unlikely story of a 30-something London slacker with a clandestine second life. Shea Hickson may confess his postadolescent discontent with all the self-aware self-indulgence of a Nick Hornby character, but he justifies his hazy existence by his secret participation as "Little John" in an anti-celebrity underground conspiracy out of a Ben Elton satire. When his father, a popular BBC-TV weatherman, commits suicide, Shea has something in his life to take seriously other than culture jamming for the mysterious "Robin Hood," his contact in the guerrilla organization. His father's diary reveals a secret life of his own, and Shea decides to track down the people in it, who are code-named the Sun, the Wind, the Clouds and El Ni¤o. Hughes, a popular British stand-up comedian, produces torrents of one-liners and even scattered satiric invective, but no cohesive plot. As Shea explores his father's past, from radical lefty university days to compromised media career, he realizes that the old man's sins are going to be visited on his sons. Shea, his brother, and even a mysterious half-brother in Australia are in imminent danger. For all the Martin Amis-style black humor and bad sex, the final, telegraphed twist to Hughes's talky satire about the chattering classes can't unite its disparate voices. (Mar.)Forecast: Hughes is a bestselling author in England, but his celebrity status in the U.K. won't help the book much here, and the novel's flaws probably will keep its sales from being what Hughes would have wanted.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Shea Hickson's father, a TV weatherman, commits suicide, and when Shea discovers the body along with a series of diaries, his life, for the first time, has direction. He must decipher his father's meteorologically encrypted diaries and unfold the complicated and painful story leading up to his suicide. But this is no ordinary grief observed. Shea confronts every crisis in his life with an unhealthy dose of glib sarcasm, and his discoveries about his father are often as funny as they are tragic (he sleeps with his father's mistress, for instance). Young Hickson also must confront impending fatherhood, following a one-night stand with his hairdresser, and perform one final task for the shady leftist organization for which he has worked for several years. The frenetic pace of the novel continues to speed up until a brilliantly wrought, heart-rending conclusion gives the novel emotional power it might otherwise lack. Some readers may tire of Shea's talky, introspective narration, but following Shea around feels like driving through the streets of nighttime London at 140 kilometers per hour--terrifying and horrible, but really fun. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (September 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684860295
• ISBN-13: 978-0684860299
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Not so bad!, April 9, 2003

By 

Brendan McCabe (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's What He Would've Wanted: A Novel (Hardcover)

I liked it. Yes, this is a very depressing book, but it's also hopeful. There were humorous moments and touching moments. Above all, this was one of the most honest books I've read. It's lesson is that reality can be harsh and you have to cherish the good times, and it's a novel worth reading.

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Much..., February 13, 2002

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's What He Would've Wanted: A Novel (Hardcover)

Irish comic Hughes' second novel (following The Detainees) is so packed with problems for its protagonist Shea that one ends up feeling like it's trying too hard to achieve a delicate mix of poignancy and black humor. Shea is yet another of those just-turned-30 English slackers who haven't quite done anything with themselves yet, and when his weatherman father commits suicide, it propels him on a quest for meaning. The story consists of Shea's attempt to understand why his father killed himself (which is aided by coded diaries and disturbing pictures), while also trying to patch up his relationship with his brother, get over his old girlfriend, deal with the hairdresser he impregnates, and do the proverbial "one last job" for a loose cultural guerrilla organization dedicated to bringing down bigwigs.

If it all sounds like a bit much and a bit silly, it is. There are too many big events going on in his life at once for any one of them to be fully explored. Shea is highly unlikeable for much of the tale, with whiny internal monologues, a sarcastic and glib approach to life, and sexual fixations, he comes across like an even more self-indulgent Nick Horbny protagonist, but his self-discovery at the end comes much too late and too easily. There are some funny moments, and some genuinely good bits about familial love, but too many contrivances, coincidences, and cheap jokes get in the way of things.

5.0 out of 5 stars One For Hughes Fans and Like Minds, January 19, 2002

By 

Katrina Lapham (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's What He Would've Wanted: A Novel (Hardcover)

People familiar with Sean Hughes' comedy and previous writings will find common themes in this novel - loneliness, hopelessness and generally 'what its all about'. I found this a more satisfying read than 'The Detainees' as, although the bulk of this book was quite gloomy, its ending is uplifting. In any case, I generally find Hughes' work more 'realistic' than 'depressing'. And, as always, Hughes delivers with insightful comment on everyday life and the best one-liners around. If you have found yourself to be 'on his wavelength' before, then I thoroughly recommend 'Its What He Would've Wanted'.