The Tooth Fairy [Hardcover]

Graham Joyce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998

A deft, canny novel about growing up, cunning disguised as a highly readable fairy story: a modern parable of loss and maturity.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The disquietude in Graham Joyce's coming-of-age tale is that of having too much power as a child--the kind of power that turns your slightest wishes into mayhem. This power is granted to the rather ordinary and fearful member (neither the smartest nor the strongest) of a trio of friends growing up in small-town England by his stinky and enigmatic night visitor, the Tooth Fairy. The charm of this British Fantasy Award-winning novel is in his subtle and unsentimental portrait of a supernaturally benighted childhood. As Ellen Datlow writes in Omni, "Joyce immediately hooks his readers from the very first page with a small sharp shock and holds the reader with engaging characters and an air of menace. This tooth fairy is ... mischievous and destructive, representing our own worst aspects." --Fiona Webster

From Publishers Weekly

An unlikely sprite assumes a sinister incarnation in this exceptional supernatural novel about a troublesome but endearing trio of boys coming of age in the English Midlands in the 1960s. Seven-year-old Sam first lays eyes on the Tooth Fairy?oddly dressed and smelling of horse's sweat and chamomile?in the middle of the night after he has stashed a tooth under his pillow. Over the years, the fairy becomes a fixture in his life. No one else can see or hear this odd creature, who is sometimes male, sometimes female and alternately coy, cruel and cuddly. Even without this personal demon, Sam would get into plenty of trouble with his chums: Clive, a "gifted child" who wins a NASA (yes, the American NASA) science contest at age six but longs to be normal; Terry, an affable lad whose life is plagued by catastrophe; and Alice, the fetching, knowing girl who drives the boys wild with lust. Joyce (Requiem) engagingly describes the boys' childhood experiences?sampling drugs, toying with explosives, worrying over acne?and carefully portrays their childlike stoicism in the face of several horrifying tragedies. Sam worries that the Tooth Fairy, who grows menacing and sexually demanding, is responsible for those calamities. The novel's appeal lies primarily in the three boys, who are charmingly mischievous, naive and hormone-driven, portrayed by Joyce with a gentle wit. No less compelling, though, is the fairy, a fleur de mal from childhood's secret garden whose perfume seduces Sam and the reader alike into a fertile, startling nightmare. (Mar.) FYI: The Tooth Fairy has won the 1997 British Fantasy Award for best novel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031286261X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312862619
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,276,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Poignant Tale of Childhood, August 28, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Tooth Fairy (Paperback)

A picture of author Graham Joyce adorns the rear flap of "The Tooth Fairy," a photograph of a middle aged British guy laughing it up. After reading this magical, phenomenal coming of age story, this photo shows Joyce exactly the way I pictured him. Only someone with a fantastic sense of humor could pen such a wondrous novel. What surprised me most were the blurbs on the back cover of the book, including one from fellow traveler in weirdness Jonathan Lethem. I must state this is one of the only times I wholeheartedly agree with tag lines on a book jacket, as Lethem states that it is time for America to discover Graham Joyce. I couldn't agree more since this is easily one of the best books I've had the pleasure to read this year. In fact, I read "The Tooth Fairy" immediately after Lethem's "Gun, With Occasional Music," which makes me a prime candidate for a one-way trip to the funny farm. Joyce's book falls completely within the bounds of bizarre fiction and is sure to entertain those who enjoy an offbeat read. But even if you don't necessarily like reading quirky stuff, Joyce's novel is still sure to amuse. It's that good.

"The Tooth Fairy" is a story about three British youths named Sam, Clive, and Terry growing up in Coventry, England. When we first meet this troublesome trio, they are wee lads barely out of the cradle. This is a book about the misadventures of these three boys, and the first event occurs at a local pond where young Terry loses two toes to a big pike. The pond is important in both a real and metaphorical sense, as it quickly becomes the place where the three boys hang out during the course of their childhood as well as a representation of their rapidly fading youth. As the story moves along, the boys grow up and suffer all of the trials and tribulations of youth. Clive is the smart one, sent to a special school for gifted students and allowed to sit for his exams ahead of his two friends. Terry is the athlete, a brawny kid who never seems to get a break in life. Sam is the main character of the story; a sort of misunderstood kid who is actually extremely intelligent but whom others think is slightly dense. Through Sam's eyes we see the fallout from a series of potentially harmful events, from two incidents of murder to vandalism to other illegal activities that kids sometimes get themselves involved in.

There is something else special about Sam, namely his association with a tooth fairy he once saw as a small child. This fairy is hardly a smiling waif prancing in the fields, but a rather brutish, androgynous creature who warns Sam about upcoming tragedies while simultaneously threatening to inflict harm on Sam's friends and family. Sam's mother worries about her son's odd behaviors, and sends him to a psychiatrist to straighten him out. The tooth fairy always returns, changing in appearance as Sam moves towards adulthood. If none of this seems particularly interesting or coherent, that's because it is hard to see where Joyce is going until well into the book. I read about half of the story before I knew exactly what I was reading and even then the story presents some difficulties concerning its character. It's not clear how to classify this book: is it a fairy tale? A coming of age story? A fantasy story? Horror? Humor? Well, it's all and none of these things at different times.

The cast of characters in "The Tooth Fairy" is an extraordinary collection of individuals who are interesting as stand alone types, but who create an explosive brew when mixed together. There are the boys, of course, who all have their own amusing peccadilloes. Terry's cousin Linda is an intriguing character as well, always standing in the background watching over the three to make sure they stay out of trouble (and failing miserably). The boys' parents are amusing in their own right, as is Skelton, the alcoholic Scottish shrink with whom Sam spends years discussing the tooth fairy without any concrete resolutions. Finally, there is Alice, a pretty girl who eventually attracts the attentions of Sam, Clive, and Terry. Joyce sculpts each of these characters with such depth that they seem like real people.

A word of warning: "The Tooth Fairy" is frank in its depictions of adolescent sexual escapades. Joyce pulls no punches when it comes to describing those slightly naughty activities young boys engage in, and once the Alice character arrives on the scene the libido factor soars off the charts. Some readers may find these situations slightly embarrassing or offensive, but don't let that stop you from dipping your beak into Joyce's homage to childhood. Really, you will like this engaging book from an author you've probably never heard of before. Besides, reading things off the beaten track provides a good boost to your state of mind if done in a proper manner.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful prose, not easily forgotten., July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tooth Fairy (Paperback)

Grotesque, beautiful, repulsive, compelling, hilarious, tragic, magical and very very erotic! Rarely have I read a book that provokes so many conflicting emotions. The angst of growing pains and awakening sexuality is very skillfully crafted and will, no doubt, strike a chord of recognition with many readers. The enigmatic character of the Tooth Fairy will haunt you long after the final page. A minor masterpiece.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastical depiction of psychological impairments, February 18, 2003

By 

Glen Engel Cox (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Tooth Fairy (Paperback)

A group of children coming of age together is nothing new, yet Graham Joyce somehow manages to not only make it feel fresh but different as well. In horror, the inevitable comparison for this type of story is Stephen King's "The Body" (filmed as Stand By Me), which is atypical King, but a great benchmark. "The Body'' doesn't have any supernatural elements, although it does rely for the most part on horror tropes to build its suspense and atmosphere. However, King's story is simple and direct, and the uncertainty is in its characters motivation to action. Joyce writes in that understated Brit style, in which the gore is hidden underneath a veneer of geniality. When something horrific happens in King's writing, there's no doubting the pain and blood. With Joyce, the event seems so unreal that you wonder if it just might be in the character's imagination.

The underlying question in The Tooth Fairy isn't, however, whether or not the Fairy is real (although it is a minor subplot), but if the Fairy is a good or evil influence. Late in the book, you realize that the Fairy, real or not, stands as a metaphor for certain aspects of being a child. On the surface, there is a simple story about a young boy plagued by a childhood demon, but underneath runs a Jungian psychodrama saying, in effect, that we all have these demons, and dealing with them is a process of maturing.

I was originally drawn to Graham Joyce by the recommendation of Jonathan Carroll in his recent interview with Bill Babouris, so I find it hard not to compare Joyce and Carroll as well. Like Carroll, Joyce tends to rely on a narrator that may not be entirely reliable. Carroll's writing is always detailed, rarely moving quickly in time, concentrated on the here and now. Joyce shifts in and out of detail, using vagueness to add a sense of unease or urgency in action (i.e., his narrator describes things in less detail when under stress).

I liked Joyce's Requiem, and thought that he might be an author to watch, but was not sure that his other books would show the same promise. After reading The Tooth Fairy, I have a better idea of his subject matter and style: fantastical depiction of psychological impairments. Other authors have attempted the same substance with varying degrees of success, but Joyce seems to have found a magic formula for his own work is fresh, exciting and illuminating.