The Plastic Tomato Cutter [Hardcover]

Michael Curtin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1992

Stories of two very different men combine to make up a comedy of life over 30 years in an Irish town. The novel is narrated in turns by Tim Harding, an outsider of uncertain ancestry, and Mr Yendall, pompous manager of high-class outfitters, the House of Montague. By the author of "The Replay".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brilliant satire enlivens this bittersweet, amoral chronicle of society's changing values and the friends who confront them. Two narrators define the Irish city of Limerick in counterpoint: one commenting on the passing scene as he holds out against change, the other struggling with the absurdities of contemporary life. The first voice is that of Mr. Yendall of the House of Montague, a men's clothier which, at the novel's opening, has already begun its gradual decline. The second narrator is Tim Harding, the 28-year-old president (and sole employee) of Fagend, a company that helps people stop smoking. Curtin ( The League Against Christmas ) also populates his novel with a handful of other memorable people whose lives are variously roguish and sportive, winsome and bilious. The most interesting character is Yendall, whose heroic refusal to acknowledge the decades of modernism (to which the title alludes) ultimately elicits admiration. As the book concludes, Curtin raises the banner for controlled anarchy: enemies become friends, legal and religious standards are overlooked for the better and Harding comes full circle to begin helping those who can't manage to relinquish their cigarettes.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 249 pages
• Publisher: Fourth Estate Classic House; 1st.ed. edition (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1872180698
• ISBN-13: 978-1872180694
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,818,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars My best read in a long time!, March 30, 2006

By 

Mill Hill Books (Trenton, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Plastic Tomato Cutter (Paperback)

While spinning two separate tales that meet at the end, Curtain manages to deal with the Big Issues of love, redemption, aging, belonging, and more with compassion and humor. His two main characters represent two generations in a changing Ireland and a changing world. Intially it seems all his empathy goes out to the young, but he is equally deft at bringing our sympathy and understading to a rigid man having trouble letting go of the old ways of class distinction and bottled-up emotions. The writing is terrific, and so is the story. A very human and universal story that is not for lovers of Irish culture only.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly Captures Limerick's Many Colorful Characters, August 6, 2003

By 

David Zelz "David Zelz" (Bangor, Maine United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Plastic Tomato Cutter (Hardcover)

Curtin is a wonderful and charming wordsmith who manages to nicely share his warm and inviting, albeit sometimes, quirky, city and its equally colorful characters with those seeking an alternative to the overly processed slough typically served up as Irish wit. Despite the common setting, don't expect another Angela's Ashes or anything like it; Curtin in no way attempts to imitate Limerick's most famous son and certainly doesn't have to. His talents, characters and themes can well stand on their own. Limerick is a city that has been given a black eye in recent years but allow this book to take you beyond the press and introduce you to some believable and even memorable people in a very real world of sometimes hilarious, sometimes desperate situations.