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New Bedlam
Meet Bobby Kahn: a smart enough, decent enough man of middle-of-the-road tastes and weaknesses, he's network TV's boy-wonder programming executive - or rather was, until the morning he was unceremoniously fired. Frantic to save face before the news gets out, he lunges for a job running a sorry family cable business in the cozy town of New Bedlam, Rhode Island. It won't t...more
Hardcover, Large Print, 513 pages
Published
December 5th 2007
by Thorndike Press
(first published 2007)
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Community Reviews
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Perhaps I was spoiled by A&R, Flanagan's previous book, but I just couldn't get quite as much into this book. It was well-written and downright charming, but it just lacked something that I feel like he nailed in his previous effort. The book started out strong, but I feel like as it wore on, he gradually lost focus and kept piling on auxiliary characters rather than focusing on the quality work he'd done establishing the main players in the book.
Still, I really do enjoy his style and...more
Still, I really do enjoy his style and...more
Just OK.Barely. Half full of sound and fury, definitely signifying nothing. Read this if you are a television executive who has been fired repeatedly from meaningless jobs. Otherwise, go pick up Melville, or Austen, or King or Koontz or Poe or Dickens or Bradbury or Tolkien or Hardy or Christie, or...well, you get the drift.
Smart book about a top tv executive who gets fired and reinvents himself in cable among some really strange and funny characters.
Strong start, but fell apart by the end. The focus widened to include a larger cast of characters and the book lost its momentum.
Not as well-written or as acidly funny as his first novel, A & R, but I can think of worse ways to pass an afternoon.
I liked reading about the creative process of TV people in this book. Something I'd never really thought about before.
This book put me very much in mind of Carl Hiaasen and Donald Westlake, although it's not a mystery. The characters and some of the situations are very similar in type and tone. Sure, it's not a startlingly new story, and the ending is a little weak, but it was certainly a fun read, with just enough incite into the programming process to make me look twice at some of the "stunts" I see advertised. Plus, I'm a comic book fan from 'way back, so any book that debates the merits of Kirb...more
felt very pop-culture-y. good story, interesting characters.
I think I'd actually rate this about a 3.5 if it were possible.
this was an entertaining and at times funny read about a tv exec that takes the helm at a struggling family run cable tv company in Rhode Island. This falls into the good commute reading category - not heavy duty nor groundbreaking but entertaining from beginning to end - something to take your mind of a long bart ride.
this was an entertaining and at times funny read about a tv exec that takes the helm at a struggling family run cable tv company in Rhode Island. This falls into the good commute reading category - not heavy duty nor groundbreaking but entertaining from beginning to end - something to take your mind of a long bart ride.
This was a pretty good book...very entertaining and easy to read. There were several parts that offered an interesting commentary on today's society, especially the idea of thinking about what sells on television. There was nothing wrong with it, and I would have a hard time thinking of someone who wouldn't enjoy its humor and irony.
I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I expected it to be funny, but it turned out to be a really great commentary on today's society's dependence on television. I would highly reccommend it to just about anybody. The characters were very clever and complex; there were lots of surprises.
Pretty insubstantial, but a fun read. I feel like ending the book with Annie was a mistake, as she was one of the least developed characters to that point. The book does paint a good picture of the bulk of the modern TV climate. I'd say borrow this one, but don't rush out to buy it.
Okay novel. Too predictable. A tv bigshot is fired and ends up in a remote part of Rhode Island running an obscure cable company. There are odd employees, odd shows that no one watches...Supposed to be a satire but it's bite isn't that strong unfortunately.
I picked this book up at the library when I was too busy to really look for a good book. It was an entertaining read about television written by a television insider. Some wacky stuff and some good insights into our crazy culture.
This book was fun to read -- the King family is eccentric in the best sense of the work. It also takes a surprisingly understanding look at family relationships and sibling rivalry. I enjoyed it!
A fun ride from Bill Flannagan, of MTV/VH1 & CBS Sunday Morning. I liked A&R better, but this one is a fun inside look at the Cable TV industry.
Simultaneously snarkier and more real than A&R, Flangan's take on the TV industry made me laugh out loud. And wish he'd write about print media next.
I got about halfway through this when I left it at a hotel in Louisville. It seems ok, but I can't say I was that upset when I lost it.
A fun comic novel about a small cable television network in Rhode Island, written by a television insider.
Very funny little book. Terrific characters, fun, easy read.
Entertaining, fast read.
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