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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Out Loud Funny, December 9, 2002
This is Sharp's best novel yet, the second detailing the life of Wilt a college lecturer and his severely disfunctional family. In what is basically a farce Sharpe's satire bites deep into every subject he touches, as Wilt comes under investigation by the police for drug dealing, infiltrates a US nuclear air base and has to use face cream to cool his burning uncontrolable penis. If my description of this novel sounds manic, the reason is simple, the book is manic. As an Englishman living in the US I am not sure if the humor travels well, but I hope my American friends can appreciate it, because this book is one of only three (all written by Tom) capable of making me laugh out loud wherever I am reading it (which can be most embarrasing). Try it and enjoy a different view of life and then be thankful you don't have to live Wilt's life.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I laughed like I was crazy...., August 5, 2002
I bought this book 15 years ago when traveling. While waiting for a change of planes at Heathrow, I started reading, and couldn't put it down. I started chuckling to myself, then laughing out loud, then laughing so it hurt!! Other passengers were staring at me. I showed them what I reading and some of them nodded knowingly. It is the funniest book I have ever read!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a superb comic novel, May 17, 2000
Wilt is the first Tom Sharpe novel I've read. Written some 20+ years ago, it's about a rather frustrated-with-life English literature lecturer, his bewildered wife, and their sex-crazed neighbors. It's all a wonderful farce with biting satire around the edges. Much of the humor has sexual undertones, but Wilt never turns vulgar. Unless you find mild doses of profanity unacceptable, or sexual humor (about lesbianism, wife-swapping, etc) to be unfunny or distasteful, I think most everyone will love Wilt. Americans won't find it "too British", and the 1970s setting seems quaint rather than dated (..it's not like reading a screenplay of the Brady Bunch). However the material is probably not suitable for those under 15 years old. Buy it and start laughing.
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