The Midden [Hardcover]

Tom Sharpe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1997

Timothy Bright does not live up to his name. Brought up to regard ever-lasting wealth as his birthright, he cannot understand why the funds have been cut off and why friends recruited as Lloyd's Names no longer talk to him. When gambling fails and embezzlement starts, mayhem ensues.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Middenhall is a hideous English mansion, owned by the Midden family, and a wide and wild collection of Middens live on the property. Their idyllic country life is shattered with the appearance of Timothy Bright, who mysteriously appears, stark naked, under the bed of Marjorie Midden's handyman. Add to this mix a corrupt and not too bright chief constable who cooks up a sex scandal allegedly taking place at Middenhall to deflect publicity from his own nefarious deeds. The plot is akin to a Shakespeare comedy of errors, albeit a very dark comedy, with unlikely twists and turns on every page and sex and violence running rampant. The "happy ending" is all but obscured by the dead bodies, the sexual abuse, and the smoldering ruins of Middenhall. Shakespeare it is not. Monty Python fans will be amused. For larger collections.?Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Providence
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Satirist Sharpe returns after a lengthy hiatus, anger undimmed, in an alternately cruel and hilarious tale of greed set in a contemporary Britain blighted by the appetites set loose during Margaret Thatcher's reign. Those familiar with Sharpe's previous work will not be disappointed. This tale, like his earlier novels (Wilt on High, 1984, etc.), features violent slapstick (including a brilliantly sustained scene in which a violent, drunken husband has to contend with a surly watchdog, his wife's lesbian lover, and a drugged lout who has unknowingly crawled into bed with the wife); some spirited, acidic, precise portraits of authority gone amuck; and a grimly humorous skewering of human foibles. Although young Timothy Bright has served quite lucratively as a front man for some shady financial types during the go-go '80s, the crash in the early '90s leaves him broke. He secretly helps himself to some of his family's carefully hoarded capital and flees. The arrogant and not-very- bright Timothy bungles his getaway by running afoul of a powerful and thoroughly corrupt police superintendent. He ends up hiding out at Middenhall, a grotesque country house filled with an assortment of geriatric oddities and presided over by the formidable Miss Midden, and in the middle of a war. It turns out that the superintendent is determined to drive Miss Midden (his only opposition) from the county, the better to continue looting it. The apocalyptic climax involves a shoot-out between a police assault unit and one of the Middens, an addled hunter who mistakes them for terrorists. By the close, Sharpe, with obvious relish, has meted out punishment to the whole scapegrace lot--only the cool, practical Miss Midden survives unchanged. But while there are some wonderfully zany moments here, anger predominates. It's clear that Sharpe really is disgusted by his countrymen, whom he views as shallow, greedy, and dull. Too often, though, the anger overwhelms the satire. A ferociously inventive but uneven satire. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (November 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879518014
• ISBN-13: 978-0879518011
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The master of farce back at his best (well almost!), April 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Midden (Hardcover)

OK so it doesn't quite match the hilarious mayhem of The Throwback or reach the heady comic heights of the Wilt trilogy, but The Midden rattles along at a fair old pace and had me laughing out loud about a dozen times (which is at least 11 more laughs than Grantchester Grind). The Midden's gloriously chaotic denouement in particular is something of a comic masterpiece. This is some of Tom Sharpe's strongest characterisation in a long time and is simply crying out for a sequel. I genuinely want to know what adventures the indomitable Miss Midden gets up to next. Surely the unfortunate Chief Constable will be plotting some horrible revenge? What about the creepy Major? and can poor Timothy Bright escape Piggy Chops for ever? So come on Tom Sharpe, let's have "Middenhall Revisited"!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Such a plot !, August 24, 2001

By 

Fattore Daniel (Berne, Suisse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Midden (Hardcover)

An amazing history, just like Sharpe is able to make them. As a respectable English humour writer, he throws his characters in incredible situations, and mostly what can happen worse... just happens, with an almost mathematical regularity. I just like such "complicated", incredible stories.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not his best,but still hilarious., February 10, 2004

By 

T West - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Midden (Hardcover)

Tom Sharpe is an absolute madman. The Midden is another example of that. Timothy Bright is in his late twenties. Finicial advisor with nothing but a bright future. Then it all goes into disarray when his advice just fails. Totally in debt,Timothy hooks up with the mob,robs his Aunt,and has to frame one of the top judges or else the mob turns him into "piggy chops".

Timothy sets out on his mission,shacks up with his Uncle for a bit before moving on. Tired of Timothy leaching and stealing his tobacco,the Uncle decides to slip some "toad" into the tobacco which Tim has been smoking. Toad is some kind of hallucinogetic that sends Timothy off on his scooter naked at 140 mph. Timothy finds a houseboat,finds a way in and hops into the bed. Unknowingly the house boat belongs to the Chief Constable and the bed is also occupied by the chiefs wife. The chief beats the heck out of Tim and chucks him in the basement. Trying to figure away to dispose of the intruder without causing any seen of finding a naked man in bed with his wife he decides to dump him off at the hated Middens mansion.

It was insane up to this point,then it just gets off the hook. The chief in his worries of getting pinned in dumping the the naked boy,decides he will frame the Middens with acts of child abuse. From here we get bumbling policemen acting like sheep to get closer to the mansion,an old geezer remembering his buffalo hunting days trying to shoot the cops. A church group on a retreat and on and on,and when it all comes down all heck breaks loose.Absolute chaos and hilarity. A must read for Sharpe fans.