Product Description

The eagerly awaited hilarious new adventure from bestselling author Tony Hawks

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12628 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Daily Mirror
"Hugely entertaining"

Synopsis
'If you had to pick two things you wanted - if you had to - what would you pick?'. I hesitated. This was a bigger question than usually got asked at these post-match debriefs. 'I suppose the honest answer would be,' I said, still accessing the last pieces of required data from a jumbled mind, 'meeting my soul mate, and finding an idyllic house abroad somewhere.' Inspired by breathtaking views and romantic dreams of finding love in the mountains, Tony Hawks impulsively buys a house in the French Pyrenees. Here, he plans to finally fulfil his childhood fantasy of mastering the piano, untroubled by the problems of the world. In reality, the chaotic story of Tony's hopelessly ill-conceived house purchase reads like the definitive guide to how not to buy a house overseas. It finds him flirting with the removal business in a disastrous attempt to transport his piano to France in a dodgy white van; foolishly electing to build a swimming pool himself; and expanding his relationship repertoire when he starts co-habiting, not with an exquisite French beauty, but with a middle-aged builder from West London.

As Tony and his friends haplessly attempt to fit into village life, they learn more about themselves and each other than they ever imagined.

From the Publisher
The eagerly awaited hilarious new adventure from bestselling author Tony Hawks

Customer Reviews

A very funny book!
I wonder if he's finished the pool yet ... ? In spite of the publicity surrounding Tony Hawk's other well known book Playing the Moldovans at Tennis I decided to read this book first of all. It didn't disappoint, in fact it was hilarious ... especially his experiences with white vans! The book had me in stitches from start to finish. I was amused to read about local village life in the Pyrenees and the characters that add to the amusement ... What I like best about Hawks' style is that he always tells it how it is - no holds barred!

Easy Going - nothing spectacular but enjoyable nonetheless!
An easy-going, quite enjoyable book - I found it effortless and quite funny - perfect for someone who wants something they can pick up and put down without any fear of losing of track of where they got to.
On the flip-side, bearing in mind I like a real page-turner, something a bit gritty - this was not the book for me. I didn't real find that anything about Tony's French adventure inspired me to race onto the next page and to be honest, I'm not sure that I would have bothered writing about my experience if I was him - not a great deal happened.
It was more like a cross between a travel guide, a journal and a GCSE essay.
I hate the words 'nice' and 'good' as they are so undescriptive but in this case they are just right. Nothing amazing - wouldn't recommend it - but have read far worse.

A pleasant way to spend a few hours
Tony Hawks is one of those people who's been around for ages and is pretty much a professional panellist on the various comedy shows which pervade TV and radio. This is the second book I've read of his and I very much enjoyed it. His wit shines through certain chapters - such as the 'white van saga' and various other things. It isn't 'laugh out loud' funny, but it's amusing enough.

The French villagers seem to be a strange lot though and you get the impression that Hawks has embellished them a fair bit to shoehorn some more comedy into the book. The ending is a bit of a whirlwind, which in some ways doesn't ring true. All in all, it's a good book to while away a summer's day or to lull oneself into a (refreshing) state of slumber in the evening.