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  <id>1405643</id>
  <title><![CDATA[Barcelona Plates]]></title>
  <isbn><![CDATA[0340767537]]></isbn>
  <isbn13><![CDATA[9780340767535]]></isbn13>
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  <description><![CDATA[Comedians rarely make great fiction writers, the temptation to throw in cheap one-liners distracting them from any substantial narrative--which is why Alexei Sayle's first attempt at proper literature is a nice surprise. Although riddled with dark humour, his short story collection <em>Barcelona Plates</em> is actually best when he's being serious. Sayle has a knack for story-telling and a twisted imagination which creates perverse characters. They're mostly melancholic beings whose lives are in a rut when the smallest twist of fate changes everything--from the call centre employee who spills cream on her suit to the business woman who loses her keys. Especially good is &quot;The Minister For Death&quot;, in which a retired pipe fitter from Liverpool discovers, after an incident returning from the chip shop with a steak pie, that old people are invisible in modern society and gains retribution as the &quot;stealth codger&quot;.<p>After 17 years in London, Sayle's representation of his adopted city is powerful--from a nature reserve in Kings Cross to likely lads down Bermondsey, from wealthy Islington squares to Clerkenwell on a Saturday night. He eruditely describes the early evening Soho populace as, &quot;Clerks in raincoats clutching beer bottles by the neck, standing outside bars looking up and down the street as if good times were about to arrive in a taxi.&quot;<p><em>Barcelona Plates</em> is side-tracked from time to time by rants, such as Disneyland's rancid evil or the &quot;stupidity&quot; of recent comedy, mirroring Sayle's sardonic demeanour and acerbic monologues on TV. However overall, it's an entertaining collection of absurd yarns. --<em>Sarah Champion</em></p></p>]]></description>
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  <original_title>Barcelona Plates</original_title>
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        <name><![CDATA[Alexei Sayle]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[Barcelona Plates]]>
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    <![CDATA[A septuagenarian contract killer, a chronic hypochondriac, two zombie-creating comedians, a good samaritan and a man called Barnaby who drives a small white car. These are just a few of the inhabitants of Alexei Sayle's world; a world where life can at times be cool and dark, or blood-hot and violent - but always served up with a twist.]]>
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  <read_at>Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
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  <date_updated>Wed Dec 16 19:14:54 -0800 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[Generally preferring nonfiction, I recently re-read this genius collection of short stories and was reminded about how gosh darn magnificent fiction can be sometimes.]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[Barcelona Plates]]>
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    <![CDATA[A septuagenarian contract killer, a chronic hypochondriac, two zombie-creating comedians, a good samaritan and a man called Barnaby who drives a small white car. These are just a few of the inhabitants of Alexei Sayle's world; a world where life can at times be cool and dark, or blood-hot and violent - but always served up with a twist.]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[Fall about funny! A great read.]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[A septuagenarian contract killer, a chronic hypochondriac, two zombie-creating comedians, a good samaritan and a man called Barnaby who drives a small white car. These are just a few of the inhabitants of Alexei Sayle's world; a world where life can at times be cool and dark, or blood-hot and violent - but always served up with a twist.]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[flippin veh funny!]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[Comedians rarely make great fiction writers, the temptation to throw in cheap one-liners distracting them from any substantial narrative--which is why Alexei Sayle's first attempt at proper literature is a nice surprise. Although riddled with dark humour, his short story collection <em>Barcelona Plates</em> is actually best when he's being serious. Sayle has a knack for story-telling and a twisted imagination which creates perverse characters. They're mostly melancholic beings whose lives are in a rut when the smallest twist of fate changes everything--from the call centre employee who spills cream on her suit to the business woman who loses her keys. Especially good is &quot;The Minister For Death&quot;, in which a retired pipe fitter from Liverpool discovers, after an incident returning from the chip shop with a steak pie, that old people are invisible in modern society and gains retribution as the &quot;stealth codger&quot;.<p>After 17 years in London, Sayle's representation of his adopted city is powerful--from a nature reserve in Kings Cross to likely lads down Bermondsey, from wealthy Islington squares to Clerkenwell on a Saturday night. He eruditely describes the early evening Soho populace as, &quot;Clerks in raincoats clutching beer bottles by the neck, standing outside bars looking up and down the street as if good times were about to arrive in a taxi.&quot;<p><em>Barcelona Plates</em> is side-tracked from time to time by rants, such as Disneyland's rancid evil or the &quot;stupidity&quot; of recent comedy, mirroring Sayle's sardonic demeanour and acerbic monologues on TV. However overall, it's an entertaining collection of absurd yarns. --<em>Sarah Champion</em></p></p>]]>
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