A nice surprise - Rated 
When I got this out of the library, the librarian opened it to stamp it and said, ` oh I tried reading this and I hated it.' I got it out still as the cover made me interested (I LOVE greyhounds and scribbly drawing - simple pleasures eh?).
I'm glad I didn't take any notice, as I loved this.
It starts promisingly enough, narrated by the strange Oli- a teenager that has all the markings of an awkward teenager without actually being unconfident. His pamphlet for fat girl who him and his mate bullied made me laugh (`don't be yourself, people will like you then') as did his observation son his parents and his new girlfriend.
In the middle of the book, he decides to save his parents marriage after his mum takes up hippy hobbies with a sandal wearer (shudders) named Graham. His ideas about life w re just the right side of precocious, and his descriptions of sex and such things disgustingly teenage and biological.
There were a couple of things I'd like to have changed - his supposed best mate Chips barely features, the reintroduction of his fat foe made an obvious karmic point, and the reference to Adrian Mole was a wee bit po-mo for my liking - but otherwise, I was pleased that such an ace cover lived up to my expectations.
Good enough to eat. - Rated 
What I like about this book is it shows you what it's doing. And it's beautifully written. Some pages are so good you could rip'em out and eat'em.
dive in! - Rated
One of the very few young English fiction writers who seem genuinely to matter.
The humour is dark, the voice secure, the plot tight. The poetic vision is what constantly startles, without saturating the reader - it makes me think of Craig Raine or a very funny version of a young Pasternak when the protagonist sees carrots that have been boiled for so long they're 'slightly out of focus'. Yes!
Read this book!
I will help the blind across the road - Rated 
Joe Dunthorne's "Submarine" is ok - I read it all the way through. But it definitely loses its way about a third of the way through.
It's an Adrian Mole type deal, mainly. Quotidian ephemera, pawky adjectives, blah de ****ing blah.
The novel has much to commend it. Some of the set pieces are almost (almost) fully realised. One or two of the characters are believable. It's readable, albeit with effort required to get through the overlong and contrived third act.
By all means, read this book, but read Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, because it's ten times better than this.
A hilarious first novel - Rated
I love this book. I love Oliver Tate, I imagine that if I am ever lucky enough to meet him, that i would also love Joe Dunthorne. I saw him in Esquire - he's hot as well as being a clossal word genius.
Respect.
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