Product Description

A novel about life, love and a pig called Estrakhan Harry Hill's debut novel is a brilliantly funny adventure through a surreal world, where pigs might not fly, but they can get their own newspaper column and reality TV show. When Harry's offered a gig at a gonk factory in Leeds, he leaps at the chance. It's the perfect opportunity to get away from his flatmate Prince Edward, and the twenty pygmies renting space in his sock drawer. Little does Harry realise that this decision will lead him on a fantastical journey, into a world where nothing is quite what it seems...Now with new material - including an alternative ending - Flight From Deathrow is a hugely entertaining and imaginative shaggy pig story from one of our finest and best-loved comedians.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41626 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
** 'Hill's delightful brand of stand-up comedy is a great success, both live and on television. In translating it to his debut novel, he has retained the core elements: surreal non sequiturs that traverse the outer reaches of unconnectedness, running gags, and shaggy-dog stories that each produce a litter of shaggy puppies... So marvel once more at the bizarre fecundity of Hill's imagination...' OBSERVER

About the Author
Harry Hill was a doctor prior to taking the stand-up comedy circuit by storm and winning the Perrier Best Newcomer Award in 1992. He has starred in several TV shows and sell-out tours, writes and narrates You've Been Framed, and presents the BAFTA-awardwinning TV Burp, which is loved by millions.

Customer Reviews

does harry hill usually make you laugh?
if so, then you have to buy this book. does it make sense, like novels are supposed to? who cares? it's extremely funny and silly and if you're looking for the meaning of it all then you'll be searching a long time.

my friend felt sick with giddiness and giggles just reading the chapter titles. as you can imagine, he's finding it a bit of a struggle to actually get through the book. i recommend taking one chapter at a time (or three, if they're very short ones) whilst sitting down.

could it be funnier? i think not.
whether a fan of harry hill's stand-up or not (and i know a lot of people are not) this book is definitely worth a read. he places a mix of strange b-list celebrities and completely ficticious characters in the most bizarre situations, always taking each joke so much further than you thought he could.

this was clearly created from the mind of a genius - i laughed so hard when i was reading it that i thought i was going to die. almost every paragraph had me wanting to turn round to people next to me and say "just read this bit, its brilliant" - i wanted to share it with everyone and have them laugh as much as i did. not only did i laugh as i was reading it but sections and ideas from it kept coming back to me throughout the next few days which would set me off spontaneously guffawing.

word of warning though: don't read it in public places. people will stare and think you are a crazy person when they see you giggling to yourself.

Simultaneously stupidest and funniest book for ages
I'm no fan of Harry Hill on TV but heard him interviewed on radio and just suspected that I may like his book so I took a chance. Flight from Deathrow is extremely good, but curiously for all the same reasons that make his TV show rubbish. If you think he's just TOO silly and surreal on TV (like me) then I think you'll still find this book funny, if you're a fan of the TV show you LOVE it.Basically it's is a series of ludricous and surreal sutuations and sketches strung together with an underlying plot which itself obviously developed as Harry Hill went along. He's making it up all the time, contriving plots and a central story by juxtaposing the most unlikely characters and situations and then just seeing where it takes him. In doing this he carries running gags and sketches to the most outrageous ultimate conclusions and it's all just so, so stupid and at the same time funny enough to make you actually laugh out loud whilst reading.Before books are published, publishers get their legal advisers to give them the once over to check they are not libelous etc. the legal team for this book apparently said that their report would be thicker than the actual book itself. The central characters of the book are either the most eclectic and unlikely mix of real life political figures and B-List celebrities or fictitious people (and animals) with the most exotic and unlikely names.The main story (not that it matters) is about Deng Xioping coming to the UK to track down the 12 inch of Status Quo's 'In the Army now'. It also follows the struggle of a fictitious minor celebrity trying to make the opening ceremony of a gonk factory. On the way we meet too many characters to list or remember but a highlight for me was disgraced MP Jonathan Aitken in an escape bid from the mobile Ford Open Prison and putting on a Divas of Rock show with tattoos of Tina Turner and Sam Fox on his shins.To help the reader keep abreast of the utter mayhem and tangents of the book, Hill provides a handy 'mind map' of all the characters and their relationships at the end. But it really doesn't matter, this book is intended to be read in short bursts and there is no benefit in nor expectation that you will understand what's going on. Just enjoy it.