Witnessing the tearing down of the dance hall where they first met, John and Margaret watch their marriage also crumble, until a whimsical act by the family dog sets off a series of events that affects the couple and their two children. 12,500 first printing.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This darkly comic novel examines an extraordinary day in the life of one suburban British family. It's John and Margaret's 19th anniversary. John, an assistant bank manager, is preoccupied with buttering up his boss for an upcoming performance review. Margaret, who has discovered a lump on her breast but hasn't told John about it, has an appointment to have it examined. Ann, their smart-alecky teenager, skips school and heads off to a Christian hoedown, and Stephen, the goggle-eyed youngster of the family, sneaks onto a local bus and gets involved with a babbling wino. Both John and Margaret anticipate flings during the course of the day, but refuse them at the last moment. Even the family dog, Raymond, gets into the nuttiness when he manages a clumsy escape. Meanwhile, the Poco Poco, the dance hall where John and Margaret first met, is being demolished. Francis (Swansong; The Whispering Gallery) is a gifted writer with a knack for turn of phrase (an evangelical's dish of food is "arranged so neatly on her plate that if there was an equals sign you could have given the answer"). His narrative, told in alternating third-person points of view, is filled with exuberant coincidences and imaginative dangers. But there is a hint of ridicule that undercuts the book's pleasures; it's telling that of all the near couplings here, the only one consummated is Raymond's, which ends disastrously. If it weren't written so well, Francis's farce would risk sliding into rant.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
'Experiencing Social Work provides a refreshing change in the expanse of social work education texts. Its focus on learning from people who had received a good service from social workers drew out many of the foundation blocks of practice that can so easily be minimised in favour of 'deeper academic theories'. In short, it reminded me of my own passion for practice and the privilege it is to be part of the social work profession' - Kay Wall, Lecturer in Social Work
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Day in the Life,
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Taking Apart the Poco Poco (Hardcover)
Set in the Manchester suburbs of Stockport, this novel follows a day in the life of a typical family by following each of the four members (and the dog) throughout the course of a Thursday. Assistant bank manager John Clarke heads off to work as per usual, and contends with broken windshield wipers, the temptations of adultery, the task of confronting his boss, the need to buy a wedding anniversary gift, and the sneaking suspicion that everyone around him knows something he doesn't. Meanwhile, his wife Margaret attempts to conduct her normal business (walking the dog, a visit to John's father, a jog), in an attempt to keep the terror of an impending breast clinic exam at bay. Their teenage daughter Ann bunks off from school to ride in a van with three evangelical Christian classmates to a "hoe down" out in the country. Alas, the van does not cooperate fully, and her holier-than-thou companions exhibit rather lax moral discipline. Adolescent Stephen is distracted from his normal routine, and ends up on a bus with a strange wino. Stephen's imagination blurs the boundaries of reality and dream, and his meanderings take on an almost deranged quality. Finally, Raymond the dog's inner thoughts are rendered in fantastic and hilarious detail, as he contends with an empty food bowl, tantalizing scents, a mocking squirrel, and finally, freedom. It's a very gentle story, one in which each family member encounters choices and obstacles, and negotiates them in their own way, arriving back home at the end. On the whole, the book isn't particularly noteworthy, although the sections written from the perspective of the dog are very funny and will appeal to dog lovers. Note: The Poco Poco of the title was a dancehall where many local bands played in the '50s and '60s.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review,
By Ms B J Ashton (Frome, Somerset United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Taking Apart the Poco Poco (Hardcover)
It took me a few pages to get into this book, pages I have since re-read with appreciation and giggles. The book has some good characters set in a just-believable "one of those days". Although I found the children less convincing than the adults. Are men really like John? Richard Francis is one so he must know.. gulp! Raymond is the best dog I have spent time with in print and had me howling with laughter. Read the book, you'll enjoy it.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Taking apart ordinary lives,
By
This review is from: Taking Apart the Poco Poco (Hardcover)
Taking Apart the Poco Poco concentrates on the adventures of a family and their dog on a single day. Each member of the family is involved in their own separate dramas, tragic and hilarious in turns. Their lives hardly seem to cross. Full of well observed minutae and careful characterization Richard Francis gives each character a distinctiveness and reality. You begin to feel that as well as being man and boy, he's also been girl, woman and dog! This is a funny, serious read, and deserves to be better known.
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