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The Late Hector Kipling: A Novel
 
 
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The Late Hector Kipling: A Novel [Hardcover]

David Thewlis (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 6, 2007
Hector Kipling is a famous artist. But Hector is not as famous as his best friend, Lenny Snook. And as they are standing in the Tate Gallery one afternoon, Hector's life begins to unravel. For a painter, this existential crisis is the place from which great art is born. If the painter happens to be a forty-three-year-old man with a girlfriend away from home, it is the recipe for disaster.

Soon it's all Hector can do to keep it together -- between his therapist who shows up drunk at a party and introduces herself to his parents, an irresistible young female poet with a terrifying taste for S&M, and a deranged stalker with an oil-and-canvas-inspired vendetta, just trying to cope is enough to make a man cry.

As the events in his life threaten to drive him toward full-blown dementia, Hector finds himself in a bizarre and murderous pursuit of a man threatening to kill him in return, spiraling into a hysterically surreal Hitchcocklike thriller -- the story of how a man can become desperate enough to shoot his way out of a midlife crisis.

At turns warm, witty, and joyfully absurd, David Thewlis's wicked comedy marks the debut of a savagely funny and observant literary talent.


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This laugh-out-loud, darkly intelligent debut suggests that Thewlis might meet with considerable success should he decide to quit acting and take up the pen full-time. London artist Hector Kipling paints huge canvases dominated by a single head. He's doing well, but he's not nearly as famous as his best friend, conceptualist Lenny Snook. Eaten up by jealousy, Hector believes that Lenny has made his fortune with stolen ideas. As Hector struggles to cope with an absent girlfriend, his parents' insane expenditures and a vandal attacking his most valuable painting, things begin to go very wrong indeed. Readers who have mourned the end of Sue Townsend's wonderful, long-running Adrian Mole series will find solace of a sort here, as will anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking skewering of modern art by a knowledgeable writer and an inescapably doomed but appealing hero. (Nov.)
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Review

"David Thewlis has written an extraordinarily good novel that is not only brilliant in its own right but which stands proudly beside his work as an actor, no mean boast. He is the epitome of the true Renaissance man. A hero of mine." -- Billy Connolly

"[A] laugh-out-loud, darkly intelligent debut...a thought-provoking skewering of modern art by a knowledgeable writer and an inescapably doomed but appealing hero." -- Publishers Weekly

"[The Late Hector Kipling] is a rollicking, no-corpsesbarred black comedy...the art-world milieu is deftly handled, and there's a splendidly mean and morbid wit at play.... Thewlis has talent." -- Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 6, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416541217
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416541219
  • Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #755,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hector is pure magic!, November 25, 2007
This review is from: The Late Hector Kipling: A Novel (Hardcover)
How often do you come across a book that makes you laugh out loud? David Thewlis has penned such a marvel--a sharp, brilliant story that retains a marvelous sense of wit, along with being dead-on accurate at nailing the inner angst of the artist. Do not miss this one.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Self(ish) Portrait, May 11, 2008
This review is from: The Late Hector Kipling: A Novel (Hardcover)
The story of an artist whose talents don't extend to the simplest matters of adult, human interaction. This is full of laugh-out-loud send-ups of modern art and the details of Hector's love and family lives may make you cringe with no small measure of recognition. The action is a little repetitive and the ending gets very dark, but Thewlis really knows what he's doing.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Well-done, but too dark for me, January 16, 2008
By 
Carla Lilie "carlachris" (Des Moines, Ia. United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   
This review is from: The Late Hector Kipling: A Novel (Hardcover)
There's no question that "The Late Hector Kipling" is a witty, entertaining novel. Thewlis has an engaging style of writing and the various characters are well-drawn. I also enjoyed his take on contemporary art and the contemporary art scene. What I did not enjoy so much was the character of Hector Kipling. At first Hector seems to be a moderately decent guy. He has some dark thoughts, but so do we all. As the book is written in the first person, the reader is definitely given a warts and all view of Hector. I don't see how the book could have been written in any other way and been as effective.
After awhile, though, I was praying for Hector to make even one mature decision. I was starting to find him really tiresome and I lost any ability to relate to him. I enjoy black comedy, but this seemed to be at the dark, extreme edge of black comedy. It was just too dark for my taste. For me, this was probably a 3-star book. I've given it 4-stars because it was very well done; it just veered off into a direction I didn't care for.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
white settee, ugly may
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
God Bolton, Rosa Flood, New York, Lenny Snook, Eleni Marianos, Godfrey Bolton, Aunty Pat, Box Street, Big One, Tracey Emin, Archie March, Freddie Monger, Tall Lopsided, Naked Settee, Jay Jopling, Kim Large, Miss Cookham, Dirty Moustache, Camel Lights, How's Dad, Frida Kahlo, Sam Delaney, Ken Dodd, Claes Oldenburg, Yellow Submarine
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