Please: A Novel [Paperback]

Peter Darbyshire (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

Please chronicles the life of an emotionally numb man who drifts through a hallucinatory world of parties filled with celebrity wannabes, addictive relationships, and jobs that demand he become someone other than who he is. Both a dark satire of the contemporary obsession with the “mediascape” and a sophisticated critique of an increasingly uncaring society that offers fantasy in place of real experience, this first novel by a rising talent paints a compassionate picture of one man’s search for something real to embrace in life.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The nameless narrator of this fine debut novel is as luckless as he is bighearted. Over a few short chapters, he gets hooked up with a group of surly sexual fetishists and a minivan-driving drug dealer, learns that his girlfriend is a phone-sex operator, and is propositioned by a man who mistakes him for a male prostitute. The characters whom the narrator encounters are uniformly weirdos and losers, the struggling and the sullen; nevertheless, this is a very funny book. Darbyshire's narrator is frequently unemployed, but he is always running into someone willing to pay him for the oddest of odd jobs: when he is not disposing of dead cows, he is making a few bucks by helping a small-time criminal or serving as an "injured" patient for a local hospital's disaster drills. Although Please is a fully realized novel, its individual chapters could stand alone as strange but moving short stories. Darbyshire plumbs the murky regions of the soul in a novel of dark brilliance. Kevin Canfield
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Hilarious social satire of daily life among the young and nihilistic ... a winner of a debut" -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"It's like an episode of Seinfeld in which all the characters are George ... it's must-read TV" -- CTV

"a consummate critique of the human weaknesses, counterfeit values and trend-driven desires that erode our hopes for meaning and purpose" -- The Globe and Mail

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Raincoast Books (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551925621
• ISBN-13: 978-1551925622
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,989,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Darbyshire is the award-winning author of Please and The Warhol Gang, as well as too many short stories to list here. You can learn more about Peter Darbyshire at www.peterdarbyshire.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fresh, witty and downright enjoyable!, November 13, 2003

By 

bowery boy (seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please: A Novel (Paperback)

This is one of the most refreshing, highly readable, laugh out loud novels I have read in a long time. The only fault I can find is it's too short. I found myself reading slowly in order to make it last. Each chapter in itself can stand alone as a short story and they brilliantly come together as a whole.

The main character is this down on his luck chronically unemployed twenty-something guy who pines over his wife who has divorced him. Through flashbacks to the past we learn about his wacky relationship with his ex-wife while in the present he spends time drinking in S&M bars frequented by models, peeping through apartment windows with a blind man, getting robbed by Mormons and going on car chases in pursuit of John Cusack but that's not even the half of it!

If you read this in a public place, you'll find yourself trying to suppress your laughter at some of the deadpan tongue-in-cheek humor. Dabryshire has a sharp wit and is an incredible talent. I can't wait to read more of him.

If you liked Palahniuk's Choke or Banbury's Like A Hole In The Head, then you'll love this.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden Treasure, May 24, 2004

By 

Colin Willey (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please: A Novel (Paperback)

Trying to get some Canadian content into my reading repertoire, I headed to the local library where I came across "Please". After reading the first chapter there in the library, I was hooked.

Darbyshire combines wit and satire to produce a hilarious offbeat and thoroughly enjoyable novel. Having a similar style to Joseph Heller, Darbyshire's "Please" reminded me of the timeless classic "Catch 22".

If you are looking for a quick, enjoyable and different read, pick up a copy of this novel. You'll be glad you did!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing writing, funny yet touching and real., February 16, 2006

By 

the penguin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please: A Novel (Paperback)

This book is phenomenal. Darbyshire debuts with strong writing and even stronger characters. Best books I have read so far this year.