Sunday's Child [Paperback]

Edward O. Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1988

Disposing of a corpse is no easy task--particularly on New Year's Eve, and particularly for upstanding lawyer Geoffry Chadwick. For Chadwick brought home the wrong kind of stranger and, while defending himself, dispatched his visitor too well.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Geoffry Chadwick is 50, Canadian, single, gay and, after a brief struggle with a hustler who tries to shake him down, a murderer. Herein lies the device for this macabre, funny, if somewhat meandering, first novel, originally published in Canada in 1981. Although Geoffry must dispose of the bodywhich he does by sawing it into pieces and then dropping off the sections around town at nightthe trauma of the murder affords him the opportunity to reminisce and ruminate: on the recent termination of his affair with a history teacher; on the not-so-recent deaths of his wife and daughter; on the alcoholism of his mother; on growing old; on being gay. The visit of a nephew and the New Year's festivities only serve to intensify his thoughts. Although Chadwick is abrasively disdainful early on, he is fascinating when he loosens up. Phillips keeps the reader hopping with throwaway quotations from Donne and scatalogical references and puns. Unfortunately, the central scenes concerning the disposal of the body are neither funny nor horrifying but simply tedious, an annoying series of errands Chadwick must run. Nevertheless, there is much to commend this otherwise witty, mordant work.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Edward O. Phillips is the author of numerous short stories and novels. He is a keen observer of people and the small hypocracies that ease our relationships. Best known for his series featuring Geoffry Chadwick, corporate lawyer, reluctant hero and wry social commentator, Phillips won the Arthur Ellis Award for his novel Buried on Sunday. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (August 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312022948
• ISBN-13: 978-0312022945
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,002,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SUNDAY'S CHILD, December 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sunday|s Child (Geoffrey Chadwick Novels) (Paperback)

SINCE THE OTHER REVIEW PRINTED ABOUT THIS BOOKS IS SO VERY NEGATIVE, I THOUGHT I WOULD ADD MY TWO CENTS. THIS IS REALLY A FINE NOVEL. THE QUOTES ON THE JACKET ARE TRUE: IT IS ENTERTAINING AND WELL WRITTEN. IT HAS A VERY POSITIVE GAY CHARACTER INVOLVED IN A VERY UNUSUAL SITUATION -- DISPOSING OF THE REMAINS OF A BLACKMAILING STREET HUSTLER HE'S KILLED AND DISMEMBERED. HE'S POSITIVE BECAUSE HE SHOWS STRENGTH IN ADVERSITY, HE ALWAYS BEATS UP THE BAD GUYS WHO TRY TO HUSTLE, MUG, OR OTHERWISE HARM HIM, AND THE SIDE CHARACTERS AND HIS CITY, MONTREAL, ARE FUN. IF YOU LIKE RICHARD STEVENSON, JOHN MORGAN WILSON, MICHAEL NAVA, YOU WILL LIKE EDWARD O. PHILLIPS. HE IS SLIGHTLY DATED, A BIT FUSTY, BUT STILL VERY SEXY AND A LOT OF FUN.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Have you ever had one of those days..., January 19, 2003

By 

GoryDetails "gorydetails" (Nashua, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sunday|s Child (Geoffrey Chadwick Novels) (Paperback)

Canadian author Edward O. Phillip's "Sunday" series, featuring 50-something gay lawyer Geoffrey Chadwick, begins with this darkly humorous suspense tale: Chadwick, alone on New Year's Eve and somewhat depressed about breaking up with his lover, picks up a young hustler and brings him home. When the man tries to rob him, Chadwick fights back, the hustler winds up dead - and Chadwick finds himself in a rather precarious situation. What he decides to do about it, and how this plays out, make up the majority of the tale; there's a feeling of vague unease shading to impending doom that reminds me of Highsmith, and poor Chadwick's nerves are tested to the limit.

One of the things I like about Phillips' books is his ability to make this quiet, comfort-seeking, somewhat stodgy character so likeable, even when he's making decisions that the reader (and, to some degree, Chadwick himself) know to be risky if not downright wrong. Or maybe I just identify with a 50-something person who lives alone in relative contentment but who wonders - just now and then - what else might be out there... and if it's worth the risk to the status quo of looking for it.

These are good books. Check 'em out. [The series: Sunday's Child, Buried on Sunday, Sunday Best, and Working on Sunday. Phillips has other, non-Chadwick novels too, but I haven't tried any of those yet.]

1 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a terrible one, March 8, 2000

By 

Santa Claus (North Pole) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sunday's Child (Paperback)

This book is about a gay dude doing some gay things. Strongly NOT recommended unless you like gay stories. It also mysteriously takes you unexpectedly long to actually read it - like it takes longer than you assume because it's boring and about some gay people talking gay conversations and using slangs and cusses, etc.