A modern tale of sexual mores and city life, Edward Docx sexy, intelligent, and, above all, elusive. But his mission to seduce her marks the start ...
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reviews
Dec 18, 2007
Rachel
rated it: 
Worth the read, but not as good as I'd hoped. Frankly, I expected it to be sexier. And I guessed the surprise ending pretty early on, and it's an awful lot to ask your readers to swallow. And the foreshadowing frustrated me--since he'd already told me it was going to go so badly wrong, I felt like I wanted him to just hurry up and get there already so I could stop anticipating. On the other hand, there are some fantastic passages, especially the really caustic send-ups of London stereotypes, and
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Dec 08, 2010
JackieB
rated it: 
This was an unusual novel. I suppose it's a romance but it was far deeper and darker than romances usually are. The main character (Jasper) was a calligrapher and during the book he was being paid to create a set of John Donne's poems. Edward Docx used the poetry to explore some of the aspects of Jasper's attitudes to women and love or to comment on the story line. But Docx balanced this with humour so it didn't get too heavy. I liked the writing style too. This was one of my favourite se
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Apr 14, 2009
Geeta
rated it:
Clever, well-written, and fun to read. Jasper Jackson is the calligrapher, working on a sequence of thirty love poems by John Donne for a wealthy client. Jasper is also a jerk, though from his point of view, he's just someone who loves women. The book begins with him cheating on his long-time girlfriend Lucy, then getting caught and dumped. The rest of the book is the story of his comeuppance. Docx plays around a lot with language and the Donne poems; some readers will find the language exce
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Aug 06, 2009
Marvin
rated it:
Set in London, with intelligent, highly cultured characters, with fine writing that occasionally shades into self-conscioius pretentiousness, this is an engaging, actually pretty sweet account of a self-centered womanizer who finds the woman of his dreams and struggles with the new experience of discovering what it means to fall in love. At the same time, he is carrying out a contract professionally to portray in calligraphy John Dunne's love poetry, and he struggles to come to terms with the me
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Jan 29, 2009
Trouble
rated it:
An unexpectedly quick read. This book definitely won`t appeal to everyone. The main character is kind of a self-centered jerk, the female lead is obviously toying with him in an equally self-centered way, and we know from the promo blurb that the end is just going to hurt for our lead, Jasper. If the prose/characters hadn`t been so interesting, waiting for the other shoe to drop could have been excruciating.
I`m a little dissatisfied with how quick the ending was, but this will probably More...
I`m a little dissatisfied with how quick the ending was, but this will probably More...
Nov 30, 2007
Shawn
rated it: 
reading this book really just made me want to punch the main character in the arm really hard.
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Feb 08, 2009
Erin
rated it: 
there is a certain kind of book that, when you are done, you hug it and want to immediately start reading it again and you want to buy copies for all your friends and you feel sort of bad for people who haven't read it yet. this is one of those books. go read this book right now and see what this author does with language. the words become textures and you want to say them out loud.
he eats words for breakfast... and poops out foie gras.
____
i'm only on page 20 More...
he eats words for breakfast... and poops out foie gras.
____
i'm only on page 20 More...
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Nov 18, 2009
Asmah
rated it:
I like THE CALLIGRAPHER, savoring John Donne's poetry along with Docx's novel. Docx gathered the strains of literary and artistic culture and the libertines who give free rein to sexual and imaginative inclinations. The thirty metaphysical, love poems of Donne in SONGS AND SONNETS as Docx recreates and interprets them, made me appreciate this poet more through the device of forming a chapter for each of the love poems. Docx sets the stage for this pastiche before Chapter 1 opens by telling us th
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Dec 17, 2010
Lukeetc
rated it: 
In general I hate the word pretentious--it usually just functions as shorthand for "something I didn't understand". It's an easy cop-out, a way of not-really-getting a book while managing to blame it on the author.
But this book is *hella* pretentious. Prose is stilted, characters are overrealised. Subplots are abandoned in favor of pseudo-profound inner monologues. It just reeks of a coddled, from-private-school-straight-to-top-notch-university yuppie reaching for something More...
But this book is *hella* pretentious. Prose is stilted, characters are overrealised. Subplots are abandoned in favor of pseudo-profound inner monologues. It just reeks of a coddled, from-private-school-straight-to-top-notch-university yuppie reaching for something More...
Jan 12, 2009
Hleary
rated it:
I was disappointed with novel this in comparison to Pravda because I found the characters or the plot tedious. I'm just not that into self-absorbed, pseudo-intellectual English men and painfully constructed "I see dead people" plot twists.
No question Docx is a great writer. However, as far as I was concerned he may as well been describing laundry day--and describing it beautifully. I could find funny, curious scatological and even sexy things about my laundry enough More...
No question Docx is a great writer. However, as far as I was concerned he may as well been describing laundry day--and describing it beautifully. I could find funny, curious scatological and even sexy things about my laundry enough More...
Feb 19, 2008
Donna
rated it:
This is a great undiscovered novel! That I highly recommend.
It is the story of a lovable young philanderer Jasper in modern London. He is handsome, intelligent, talented and completely ruthless when it comes to his dealings with women. However, he meets his match in the gorgeous mysterious Madeline. This is a love story, a mystery and a beautifully wrought literary novel.
Jasper is a professional calligrapher currently commissioned to do a series of John Donnes Songs and Sonnets. More...
It is the story of a lovable young philanderer Jasper in modern London. He is handsome, intelligent, talented and completely ruthless when it comes to his dealings with women. However, he meets his match in the gorgeous mysterious Madeline. This is a love story, a mystery and a beautifully wrought literary novel.
Jasper is a professional calligrapher currently commissioned to do a series of John Donnes Songs and Sonnets. More...
Dec 20, 2007
Jennie
rated it:
I'm surprised more people don't enjoy this book. I've loaned it to a few of my friends who were nonplussed. However, my husband and I thought it was absolutely marvelous. It's a recommendation from Book Lust II from the section entitled "Dick Lit"- the male version of chick lit. Anyways I loved this book so much I wanted to reread it again as soon as I finished. The plot itself is your average cliqued romantic comedy...but the writing is simply divine. I would describe it as a "de
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Jul 28, 2010
michelle
rated it:
The best parts of this novel are not the plot and the characters (though I did enjoy the grandmother), but its turns of phrase and analyses of Donne's poetry. Its literary analysis flows into the everyday happenings in the novel.
I'm not quite sure what I expected from this--it was recommended to me by an index card celebrating its wit at Powell's City of Books. I do expect some sort of satisfying and/or credulous conclusion for a book so grounded in realism and the everyday.
I'm not quite sure what I expected from this--it was recommended to me by an index card celebrating its wit at Powell's City of Books. I do expect some sort of satisfying and/or credulous conclusion for a book so grounded in realism and the everyday.
Sep 07, 2008
Kaylee
rated it:
Having read Pravda before his debut, I decided I needed to see where this brilliant man started.
I've learned a few things:
1. Edward Docx must be working through issues with monogamy.
2. Humor mixed with beautiful language gets me hot.
3. Docx is a genius.
4. I relate more than I want to with almost every character in this book.
Honestly, I can't do this book justice with my words, so here are a few of his:
"He does not believe in God or More...
I've learned a few things:
1. Edward Docx must be working through issues with monogamy.
2. Humor mixed with beautiful language gets me hot.
3. Docx is a genius.
4. I relate more than I want to with almost every character in this book.
Honestly, I can't do this book justice with my words, so here are a few of his:
"He does not believe in God or More...
Feb 20, 2009
Lori
rated it:
This one was hard to categorize. It is chick lit for smart chicks. And it is also along the Nicholas Hornby school of dick-lit. Although I did not find the story or even the writing style brilliant (there are some superlative reviews on here, so obviously many reader loved it) ...in the words of a very disturbing early 1970s commercial...it's a "mind sticker".
May 06, 2010
julia
rated it:
I don't usually enjoy books in which I have no liking for the protagonist. But, I did think this book was a great read. For someone who is so rarely surprised in books, this was did take a twist that I had not already figured out. My favorite bit was a shopkeeper's explanation of the free market system of supply and demand. So funny.
Jan 06, 2009
Intriguing, sexy, and well written. I've returned to this book over and over again. There are certain elements to the plot that some may say are contrived, but I would say everything that happens to the protagenest is inevitable. I really liked this book.
Feb 14, 2011
Sonia
rated it:
An arrogant young man who does not treat women with respect finally falls in love. His metier is Calligraphy taught to him by his Grand Dame Grandmother who lives in Europe. Wonderful interaction with his grandmother. Strange but realistic dealings with women. I loved this book. Descriptions of the art of calligraphy kept me in awe since I dabble in the art. Loved it.
Sep 01, 2009
Eileen
rated it:
I heard from some other members of my book group that this book had a "twist" at the end. I found the twist completely predictable. I really love the idea of using a body of poetry as a frame for a story, and I had virtually no knowledge of Donne when I started the book, so I enjoyed that aspect of it. Really, though, it felt a lot like a screenplay for the next hit romantic comedy.
Jan 12, 2009
Mary
rated it:
This book was fantastic .. suggested by an ex-boyfriend. A bit of "lad lit" like "chic lit" but ten times more hilarious and intellectual! If you like to laugh, and enjoy poetry, it's a must-read.
Nov 17, 2010
Valissa
rated it:
"The world is full of fuckers and there's nothing we can do."
""Though most of us somehow remember that bullets and car crashes kill in real life,we take the romance myth to heart, we forget to suspend our disbelief."
""Though most of us somehow remember that bullets and car crashes kill in real life,we take the romance myth to heart, we forget to suspend our disbelief."
Feb 24, 2009
Michael
rated it:
Probably the most anxiety-producing novel I have ever read, the work is well written and makes brilliant use of Donne's poetry. I would have rated it higher had it not induced a continuous feeling of dining under the sword of Damocles, not the experience one usually seeks in reading a novel. As Cicero noted, "Quis enim potest mortem aut dolorem metuens, quorum altertum saepe adest, alterum semper impendet, esse non miser?" When the end comes, the reader (and perhaps also the protago
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Dec 01, 2008
Tiffany
rated it:
Russian Caravan tea. And pears. The way this man describes pears. Do men like this exist? Clever chick lit.
Feb 09, 2009
Deena
rated it:
good book - total surprise at end that will blow you away, BUT i think it too long to get to the reveal.
Feb 27, 2009
Kirstin
rated it:
I thought this book was very well written. I was amazed at the twist, I didn't see it coming.
Jan 26, 2012
Jessie
rated it:
I bought this book randomly at a bargain book sale in Downtown LA. It cost me about 10 cents, and I'd never heard of it before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Though I found myself engaged in the book, I didn't really find any of the characters likable. But as I kept reading, I found myself interested in what happened to them and at times rooting for them, despite my inability to relate to any of them. But overall, interesting story and a good read.
Feb 09, 2009
Julia
rated it:
I thought this was well-written but I wonder if Mr Docx knows any actual women.
