Between the Bridge and the River

(Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A gallery of grotesques slogs through the sewers of the entertainment industry toward redemption in this exhilarating debut novel from the host of The Late Late Show. Leading the pack are Fraser, a Scottish "phony TV evangelist... drunken, selfish media prick... gossip and sot" who has been disgraced in a sex scandal; his cancer-stricken boyhood pal, George; vapid sit-com star Leon; and Leon's 300-pound, sexually perverted Svengali brother, Saul. They make their separate but linked ways through a world populated by snake handlers, serial killers, dead-eyed whores and hack studio executives pushing formulaic action films, while they take hallucinatory side trips. The sprawling tale, with plenty of Scottish backstory, casts a jaundiced eye on media debaucheries and petty vanities, throwing in miscellaneous riffs on everything from Starbuck's to escort ads, but Ferguson is particularly sharp—and funny—on Hollywood proper. For every satire of organized religion or a Vegas that's "as glitzy as a trailer park at Christmas," however, he delivers an injunction to "help others" or an ode to Paris in springtime that somehow sounds fresh. The result is a tour de force of cynical humor and poignant reverie, a caustic yet ebullient picaresque that approaches the sacred by way of the profane. (Apr. 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Ferguson is best-known to Americans as host of The Late Late Show, and moviegoers may recognize him as the Glasgow hairdresser in The Big Tease and the pot-puffing lead in Saving Grace. His strange, funny, profane, surreal, and surprisingly moving first novel is about friends since childhood from Glasgow. Fraser meets fame and fortune--well, the Scottish equivalents, at least--as a televangelist but unfortunately has insatiable yens for booze, prostitutes, and . . . knitwear. Meanwhile, George is a bit of a lost soul, who may or may not have a terminal illness. The novel also features illegitimate half-brothers Saul and Leon from the American Deep South and an eclectic cast of historical figures, including Carl Jung. Ferguson pokes good-natured fun at the media, pop culture, reality TV, religion, and, of course, Scotland as the novel jumps gleefully from Glasgow to London to Paris to Miami to Vegas to L.A., and from one character to another, while somehow managing to make weird literary sense. Fond of deranged, slightly warped humor? Try this. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811858197
• ISBN-13: 978-0811858199
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #63,341 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good, March 29, 2007

By	M. Drudzinski (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not a huge Craig Ferguson fan (I prefer Conan O'Brien's brand of late night fun), but I have to admit, this novel is outstanding. It is witty, incisive and worldly wise. Ferguson does what many novelists find difficult -- he combines humor with insight to give us a layered and satisfying novel about love and loss, corruption and faith. You will laugh out loud and gain a further appreciation for Ferguson's intelligence along the way. A must read.

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Because of all that happens "between"..., November 20, 2006

By	TrishE (Loveland, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Between the Bridge and the River (Hardcover)

There is a sharp needle, called a 'between', that is used for fine stitching in heavy fabric. This implement is a perfect metaphor to describe the crafting of the unique and inspiring fiction that is "Between the Bridge and the River." The golden thread of Craig Ferguson's sharp wit and keen insight into the depravity and glory of the human psyche shines in stark contrast to the novel's weighty themes: death and illness, abuse and misogyny, self-loathing and depression, redemption and grace, and above all, love and miracles and hope.

Before the story begins in earnest, the author reminds us of the mysterious nature of time and of bumblebee flight. Synchronicity and serendipity surface again and again, weaving a pattern of transformation and miracles. Improbable-impossible coincidences and twists propel the characters through their adventures.

Mr. Ferguson shines a harsh and unforgiving light on western popular culture. Sex and violence are used as expertly as a surgeon wields a scalpel, exposing the disturbing pathology that underlies much of modern life. But the author also reveals an unexpected tenderness and depth of emotion. It is the author's expression of the profound poignancy of the human experience that has stayed with me after this read, leaving me with a sense of the sweetness of life.

"Between the Bridge and the River" is funny, sexy, desperate, heart-breaking, hopeful and beautiful. I love this book and I recommend it highly, because we are born and we die and the journey between is a mystery. And because bumblebees can fly.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sanitized for your convenience, April 8, 2006

By	Michelle Stein "Meshugenah" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Between the Bridge and the River (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Bridge is very comprehensive and funny. I got a great sense of each character. The story was widely divergent than I had anticipated and I loved reading Mr. Ferguson's uncensored prose! He is a naughty boy and who doesn't love a naughty boy! He is wonderfully descriptive (think George's tumor! or vulgar Saul!). His recipe of good and evil, love & sex, funny & sad, and redemption, make for a clever and intelligent read. I highly recommend BETWEEN THE BRIDGE AND THE RIVER ...More books please, Mr. Ferguson!