Review: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt
by Jenners • 02/10/2011 • 4 Stars, Contemporary, Fiction, H Authors, Humor, L Titles, Science Fiction • 46 Comments
Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom HoltPublisher: Orbit Books, February 21, 2011 (though Amazon says the paperback is available now)
Pages: 400
Genre: Absurdist Fiction, Humor
Where I Got It: NetGalley
My Rating: 4 stars (Add to your TBR list … but only if this kind of book is your cup of tea)
Before I read this book, I’d never heard of Tom Holt. I read this book for one reason: this blurb by my beloved Christopher Moore, which appeared in the NetGalley write-up:
“Tom Holt may be the most imaginative satirist to land on our shores since Douglas Adams.” — Christopher Moore
Funny that Moore (who Tom Holt kind of reminds me of) mentions Douglas Adams (who Tom Holt kind of reminds me of) because this book is in the same genre as Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, with the difference being that Holt’s band of motley heroes don’t venture off into the galaxy (although they do visit other space-time dimensions). In other words, this is aggressively silly but smart stuff, and you either like this kind of stuff or you don’t. I do (like this kind of stuff).
Why don’t I try to tell you what the book is about so you can see for yourself? Take a deep breath. Here goes.
My Attempt To Describe The Book’s Plot
The book starts with a sow working out some physics questions in order to determine where her piglets keep disappearing when they go inside a rather large trailer near the pig pen. When she finally makes her way inside, she seemingly vanishes into another dimension. (But more on that later. That is just the warm-up.)
The real start of the book is when we meet Polly, a lawyer at a construction firm who has had some rather odd things happening to her lately: disappearing coffee, work being done without her doing it, strange notes in her files. Plus she can’t seem to find the dry cleaners where she left her dress; it has seemingly vanished into thin air. When she talks to her brother Don about whether she might be going crazy, her fears are allayed by his explanations. That is, until Don picks up clothing at the missing dry cleaners and finds a mysterious pencil sharpener that apparently lets him perform magic—magic that includes accidentally disappearing his annoying upstairs neighbor as well as the ability to create minions out of his hair.
From there, things get a little weird. As Polly and Don try to figure out what is happening, we bounce around meeting other characters, including: the couple who work at the dry cleaners that moves to a new location every night (and don’t think about going in the downstairs bathroom around 10:30 in the morning); Mr. Huos (Polly’s boss) who has a rather unusual back story as well as the headache of having the properties he’s developed disappearing overnight; and Mr. Stan Gogerty, the only man who has a chance of unraveling all the things that are plaguing these poor people (but only if he can escape from a tube station that hasn’t been built until 10 years in the future). Oh, and did I mention that the key to figuring out what is going on comes down to determining which came first … the chicken or the egg?
So????
If reading the book description gave you headache or made you roll your eyes, this book isn’t for you. If, however, you found yourself saying “Yes! Yes! Yes! This sounds like the goofy, abusurdist kind of book I like but just can’t find enough of!“, this book is for you!
I loved this book—although it occasionally caused me a headache trying to keep up with who was doing what and where and when. It is best not to think too much, sit back and let it all come clear in the end. When you read a book like this, it is like getting on a roller coaster: you sit down, strap yourself in, and prepare to have a wild ride that doesn’t always make sense, has lots of twists and turns and craziness but is good, clean, mind-bending fun.
My only real complaint was that I often got confused about who was narrating. “Is this the chicken talking,” I’d think, “or is this the knight stuck in the time warp?” (Yeah … it is that kind of book.) It would have been helpful to have some clearer transitions (for example, a small heading saying “Don” if we are with Don). However, I did read the book in PDF format that I downloaded from NetGalley so it is entirely possible that the non-galley of the version of the book has this information. However, even with that minor quibble, I still very much enjoyed this book. In fact, I actually snorted with laughter a few times. Here are some of the passages that really made me giggle (although it is the kind of book where passage after passage is amusing).
Describing a rather special library: They called it a library, which was a bit like calling croquet on the vicarage lawn a fight to the death.
“Um,” he said, and then his voice stopped working, a failure so abrupt and total it was hard to believe Microsoft didn’t have anything to do with it.
The voice was very loud and when it spoke the ground shook under his feet, but he’d stood up to bigger bullies before. He’d used Windows Vista. He’d installed broadband. Incomprehensible and immensely powerful forces entirely beyond his control were all in a day’s work as far as he was concerned.
I really enjoyed this book and was thrilled to find out that Tom Holt has quite a few other books for me to explore. How did I not hear of this author until now???? Well, at least I’m in the know now. If you’re a Tom Holt fan, what would you recommend I read next?
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I think his style of writing would suit me too. How come I never heard of him either? Thanks for bringing this author to us. Another one for my list.
And he has like 10 books out!! How could I have never heard of him until now? I guess because his stuff isn’t really mainstream.
Oh this sounds fun!! I have never heard of the book or the author, so thanks for the introduction.
He was new to me too … and he has a whole bunch of books so I’m wondering why no one ever told me about him!!!! I think he is a potential goldmine for goofy silly books!
I don’t think this one is for me. Thanks for sorting them out for me, Jenners.
It is a public service I am proud to perform.
Yes – this is my kind of book!
I remember you were an Adams fan! You knew the “secret” to life.
Okay, I’ll probably try Tom Holt out even though I’m not a fan of Microsoft bashing.
I can never find enough good humor out there.
Oh that’s right … you live in Microsoft country! : )
I suspect you might like Tom Holt … but I’m not sure. I find you to be a tough reader to pin down in some ways.
Sounds like a good one!!
dear jenners.
i’m just getting back to old comments and remembered that you were the
expert suggested to me about all things in blog world. in the last year, you
have been kind and respectful in all aspects , and i want to thank you! i
have learned many important standard of conducts from you!
love,
lea
Awww…how sweet to let me know.
Sounds like my kind of book, too…even if seeing Christopher Moore’s name made me cringe. I still haven’t recovered from the trauma of Fool.
Now that I’ve read Fool, I don’t think it was THAT bad … although it wasn’t his best.
This is a book that I would have normally picked up, but the comparison to Douglas Adams makes me very curious about it. I very much enjoyed the Hitchhiker books.
If you read it, I’d be very curious to see what you think. It has been awhile since I read Douglas Adams but I thought of him right away. Then I reread the Moore blurb that made me pick it up and thought “OK. I’m not all that far off in thinking it.”
My comment should have said “I wouldn’t normally have picked up.” I must have been typing too fast.
Your fingers are on fire!!!!!
OOOOH!! I am the biggest Douglas Adams fan I know, and I also love some of Christopher Moore’s novels. This sounds right up my alley and I’d never heard of it before! *goes off to find it*
I’m so happy it seems like a good match for you. He has quite a few books so we might have hit a goldmine!! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it if you read it.
With your intro, I figured it might bounce around a little much for me, and you confirmed that later in your review. I like the idea, but I need to be in control.
A control freak, eh?
This book would make you crazy then! : )
Ha! Reading your attempt at describing the book’s plot made me go “Huh?” and I had to re-read it again to figure out what the heck is going on. Definitely sounds like a bizarre book and very intriguing too. Maybe I will give this book a go.
Ok, on to my to-read list it goes!
I found myself saying “huh?” a lot while reading the book … but it was still great fun. Just don’t think too hard! : )
I love silly and smart! I haven’t read anything by Tom Holt, Christopher Moore, nor Douglas Adams. For shame! I need to get on that.
Well, I suspect if you try one and like him, you’ll like the others too.
i love silly but smart like “hitchikers . . . ” and “jeeves”, so i look
forward to reading this book which you so enticingly shared.
Yay for another fan of silly but smart!
This sounds hilarious! Can’t wait to get my hands on it, thanks for the recommendation
Glad to find another fan of absurdist humor!
I was going to ask, “have you given up on Moore” so now I can relax your just reading around him. I did enjoy Christopher Moore, so I may just do this one too.
I have not given up on Moore … but we’re on a break. : )
Sounds wonderfully fun and clever! Is it weird that I look at this review and think “yet another reason I really need to read Christopher Moore”?
Fun and clever is spot-on. And you must read Mr. Moore now!
Okay, your review convinced me that this isn’t the book for me, but I just love the title!
It is a good title…but definitely not for everyone!
Oh Jenners, you have just found the perfect book for me! After reading The Third Policeman, I have been looking for something in the absurdist category, and failing to find what I want, but reading about minions coming out of someone’s hair has convinced me that this is the book for me. I am going to have to check this out and thank you for your incredible and interesting review. I know just how hard it can be to summarize one of these kinds of books!
Oh … I’m so pleased! I know that a certain type of reader would love a book like this. And this makes me want to move The Third Policeman up in my list!
I can’t honestly say right at this minute whether I’d like this or not. Probably a mood thing. Like, in the right mood I love Nacho Libre, and in a bad one, I get up and walk out and go read my book.
It is a mood thing. And I can’t say that I’ve ever been in the mood for Nacho Libre.
I really don’t mind having to “think” when reading a book, but I prefer it to be a different kind of thinking. I also don’t mind “weird” or “silly”, but perhaps in a different sense.
I don’t think this one is for me.
It definitely isn’t for everyone. I hope that my review helps people figure out if it IS for them. Books like these are an acquired taste I think. : )
This sounds like I would like it since I love(d) Douglas Adams.
Do you do NetGalley? If so, you should look for it! It was just a fun brain-bending read.