| A Spot of Bother | 
 enlarge | Author: Mark Haddon
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £7.98 (100%)
New (34) Used (165) Collectible (2) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  131 reviews
Sales Rank: 1382
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 0099506920
EAN: 9780099506928
ASIN: 0099506920
Publication Date: June 7, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hard to put your finger on February 13, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I did laugh out loud twice (which is rare for me when reading) and though I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as 'riotously funny' I could certainly see the humour amongst the madness throughout the book.
To start with I almost felt depressed myself at how miserable all the characters were. Not one of them seemed content with their life. There was just something about it though that kept me wanting to pick it up and read on and thankfully, about half way through each of them started to admit their discontent to themselves and actually do something about it.
I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, expect maybe Jamie and Ray who were maybe the more balanced of them all.
I've given it four stars because I did like it and it was certainly more amusing than some 'domestic drama' books I've read but it's hard to put my finger on what I actually liked...maybe the fact that they weren't MY family!
 Sanity is a fragile state of mind February 8, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The characters in this book are wonderfully believeable and seem to be unexaggerated in the nervy frantic way that they deal with all the emotional and practical problems that are thrown their way throughout the book.
I like George particularly. He is repressed in the way that many newly retired men of his generation are. It would drive a person wild to be married to him but, seeing in his head, everything seems to make sense. He has so many worries that he can't even think about, let alone talk about, so he focuses it all around the cancer concerns, which he then uses as a diversion from the rest of the world.
The great thing that this book does do is makes you realise how close to madness normal life is for us all.
 Beware, Curious Incident fans February 3, 2008
3 out of 13 found this review helpful
Mark Haddon's Curious Incident is one of the most original, funny and thought provoking novels of recent years. Not so this piece of twaddle which could have been written on auto-pilot. Don't listen to the other reviews, Spot of Bother is really not worth the effort.
Real and thought provoking. February 1, 2008
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
Everybody knows someone like the characters in this book - maybe yourself - i don`t know, but it is so real and you can relate to the goings on in this family with ease. I didn`t find it as hilarious as some other readers apparently did - certainly not enough to laugh out loud - but enjoyed it nonetheless. For some reason I kept imagining jean - george`s wife - looking exactly like victor meldrew`s wife.
Warning - strong language - and sex scenes don`t hold back on detail !!!
A riotously funny look into the lives of ordinary people February 1, 2008
24 out of 26 found this review helpful
This book has been criticized by some reviewers because its characters are too ordinary. This is the very quality that makes the book such a delight for me. The book exposes a family dealing with aging and retirement, a homosexual son, marriage and relationship difficulties and the opinions of the world around them. The dilemmas faced by these ordinary characters are familiar to us all, but Haddon's humorous and insightful treatment of them can be quite thought-provoking.
The book is riotously funny. Haddon's metaphors and similes alone will have you in stitches and dying to try them out yourself to show what a witty conversationalist you are. Let me give you an example:
"George could do the bluff repartee about cars and sport if pressed. But it was like being a sheep in the nativity play".
A thoroughly enjoyable read. You will finish it in a few nights.
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