Product Description

Music, murder ... and Madeleine William has a lot on his mind. Firstly there's The Alaska Factory, the band he plays in. They're no good and they make his songs sound about as groovy as an unpressed record. In fact they're so bad he's seriously thinking of leaving to join a group called The Unfortunates. Secondly, there's Madeleine, his high-maintenance girlfriend whose idea of a night of passion is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical followed by a doorstep peck on the cheek. Maybe they're not soulmates after all? Lastly, there's the bizarre murder he's just witnessed. The guiding force behind The Unfortunates lies bludgeoned to death at his feet and, unfortunately for William, there aren't too many other suspects standing nearby ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40402 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
Notable for its fresh, contemporary flavour and its bristling intellectual energy. Coe has huge powers of observation and enormous literary panache (unday Times )

About the Author
Jonathan Coe was born in Birmingham in 1961. His most recent novel is The Rain Before It Falls. He is also the author of The Accidental Woman, A Touch of Love, The Dwarves of Death, What a Carve Up!, which won the 1995 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, The House of Sleep, which won the 1998 Prix Medicis Etranger, The Rotter's Club, winner of the Everyman Wodehouse Prize and The Closed Circle. He has also published a biography of the novelist B.S. Johnson, which won the Orwell prize in 2005. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

An Early Work That Shows Some Signs Of The Artistry To Come
I am a big fan of Jonathon Coe. I read this book after enjoying "What A Carve Up !" and "The House Of Sleep". I found it a little disappointing.

The story has to be shoehorned into shape for it to make any sense, and some of the characters are drawn a little too roughly. The plot requires a good deal of imagination to make it fly, and it seems as if it haad been added rather late in the process.

That said, it also contains the writer's honest eye for detail, and he captures the ordinariness of life in many well-drawn scenes.

I think this is an example of the early work of a writer who now produces extremely enjoyable, meaningful, challenging and accessible work. He doesn't deliver it in this early work, but you can see the early signs of it here.

I couldn't in all honesty recommend it to anyone but his biggest fans, despite the fact it is streets ahead of most of the c**p that litters the booksellers nowadays. Compared to the quality of his later work, this book does not deliver. Only for those who are truly fascinated in the work of this talented writer.

A bit disappointing...
Like other reviewers, I had read 'The House of Sleep' and absolutley loved it, so I was a bit disappointed when I read 'The Dwarves of Death'.
The blurb lead me to believe this would be more about the actual murder that William witnesses, instead it was more of an exploration of his relationship with Madeline.
There were some nice observations but I wouldn't say it was up to Coe's usual standard.
The bits about the different notes and keys of piano music also left me a bit cold.
I do disagree with the other reviewer about the loose ends though. One of the things I love about Coe's books are the structure...how different threads are picked up and tied up neatly by the end.
Sorry...but not his best work. If you haven't read his stuff before go with 'The House of Sleep'instead.

fantastic - one of my favourite books
Since I first brought this book when I was 16 I've had to re purchase it four times - and I still don't have a copy. Its one of those books where you feel compelled to tell everyone to read it, then they do, then they don't give it back or lend it to someone else and its lost again. Compulsive to read, eminently re-readable, I'll just have to go out and buy it again - and never lend it to anyone else