Product Description

He was out of her league. She was out of her depth. When Miranda, the Miss Lonely Hearts of Shepherd's Bush, suddenly finds herself romanced by a tall, dark and deadly spy, she finds her life turned upside down. Could it have anything to do with the book she innocently took from the library, a book with a conspiracy theory about 'love' so devastating that every other copy has been destroyed by MI5 and the writer 'disappeared'? Spliced through Miranda's romantic adventure are pages from the 'lost' book itself. But the loudest voice in this piece of postmodern madness belongs to the lovelorn book itself, a sentient mass of paper and ink that cannot help falling in love with its reader. Marius Brill's send-up of po-faced conspiracy stories, spy thrillers and pulp romance is as sharp as Tom Sharpe - imagine Umberto Ecco with a sense of humour. Ludicrously logical and finely spun, this is hare-brained literary fantasy, an erudite romp, and above all, a novel to fall in love with...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #457744 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
Grimwood continues to be one of the most stylish and innovative writers at work today, throwing off remarkable literary conceits with true panache. Ashraf Bey has had many roles since arriving in El Iskandryia from Seattle: detective, diplomat and killer. One thing he hasn't been, as yet, is a son to Moncef, Emir of Tunis - the father he has still to meet. Of course, Raf doesn't believe the Emir is his father anyway. And now it may be too late to find out, since the rumours that don't have Moncef escaping assassination have him hovering on the edge of death. And Raf has his own part in an unfolding political crisis that began decades earlier with US anti-globalisation riots and the Emir's refusal to ratify the 2005 UN Accord on Biotechnology. Grimwood in coruscating form.

Time Out
'A smorgasbord of romantic romp, pseudo-scholarship, urban melodrama and metafictional mystery.'

The Times
'Fantastic: hilarious ... verbal pyrotechnics, supported by a fecund imagination of the first order.'

Customer Reviews

my impulse buy of the year!
I don't normally buy new books, especially hardback ones, but I got this after going to a reading by the author and haven't regretted it. Maybe it's just that I haven't read much funny or romantic fiction for a while, but I had a wonderful time with it. I can't remember the last time I looked forward to coming home from work to a book (rather than a TV programme, or even a person!) in the same way (didn't take it with me during the day as it's quite heavy, and besides, there's that attention-seeking title).

You can look elsewhere on this site for the plot, which is completely mad, and probably as a result fantastically entertaining. There are loads of giggles to be had, especially if you're into silly word puns. If you're a cynic about love like me, a lot of the conspiracy part is scarily convincing. If you're a deep-down softie, also like me, then the love story is pretty gorgeous too. And the whole thing has the same effect on the way you see books as the film Toy Story had on dolls. Loved it, what more can I say?

Book about a book.
This book is a very witty read. It's about Miranda, who is looking for romance, and who discovers a dusty book hidden away on the back of a shelf in the library. Miranda steals the book because the librarian won't let her take any more books out and she is overdue. She is desperate to read it because it contains the secret to finding love. This book turns out to be wanted by the Secret Service as they thought they'd destroyed all exisiting copies. They think it contains a conspiracy theory that they want hushed up. Miranda has a whole range of crazy adventures as the Secret Service try to take the book from her. It all makes for some hilarious reading. Does she get her man in the end? That would be telling! Oh, to add to the quirkiness of this book, the story is actually being told by the book itself! What a novel idea.

This is what I imagine the result would be if you mixed Bridget Jones with Thursday Next (Jasper Fforde).

Brill-iant!
Did you ever feel inadequate because you couldn't get past Page 1 of Ulysses by James Joyce? Fear not - Making Love has all the same fantastic use and abuse of the English language while being eminently readable! Brill manages to insert some type of humour in every line, whether it is irony, wit, punning or pure slapstick. His command of the English language is extraordinary and his ability to manipulate it astounding. An amazing-ly enjoyable book!