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468th out of 1,106 books
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1,240 voters
Love and Other Near-Death Experiences
Hello. My name is Robert, and I haven’t been dead for sixty-three days now.
If he hadn’t bought those crummy towels, Rob would be six feet under. But his poor shopping sense accidentally set off a convoluted chain of events that meant he lived when all those others died in the pub explosion. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the ugly towels that saved his life. Perhaps it was some othe...more
If he hadn’t bought those crummy towels, Rob would be six feet under. But his poor shopping sense accidentally set off a convoluted chain of events that meant he lived when all those others died in the pub explosion. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the ugly towels that saved his life. Perhaps it was some othe...more
Paperback, 349 pages
Published
February 14th 2006
by Villard
(first published 2006)
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This is a jolly good read. One part romance, another part action/suspense, almost all very funny comedy. And it has an ending which makes you happy because everything has really turned out all right, and I don't care whether it might offend some people's intellectual skepticism, everybody likes a happy ending.
The story is about Rob, a 31-year-old late night jazz presenter on a local radio station somewhere in what I take is the central region of the U.K. (don't really have my British geography d...more
The story is about Rob, a 31-year-old late night jazz presenter on a local radio station somewhere in what I take is the central region of the U.K. (don't really have my British geography d...more
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Lordy lordy lordy, I loved this book.
Rob Garland is a disc jockey with the less-than-desirable midnight to three am jazz slot. He's become bored and disaffected and finds himself unable to make the simplest of decisions. Take a shower or bath? Wash the knife first or the spoon?
There's a reason for this indecision. It's all about those towels. He bought some towels from a corner store. His fiancee Jo hates the towels, thinks their shit, and demands that he return them to the store from whence th...more
Rob Garland is a disc jockey with the less-than-desirable midnight to three am jazz slot. He's become bored and disaffected and finds himself unable to make the simplest of decisions. Take a shower or bath? Wash the knife first or the spoon?
There's a reason for this indecision. It's all about those towels. He bought some towels from a corner store. His fiancee Jo hates the towels, thinks their shit, and demands that he return them to the store from whence th...more
Jul 10, 2010
oriana
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-2010,
why-werent-you-better
Man, I am striking out lately. This is like the third or fourth bad book in a row -- and not just bad, but really disappointing. A few months ago I read Mil's first book,
Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About
, and it was fucking fantastically hilarious. I loved his easy writing style, his terrific characters, his dry, British wit... But this one? Feh. Terribly lame. The characters were awful. The plot was woefully transparent. The humor was overdone and mostly uninspired. The writing sty...more
May 07, 2010
Beth
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
I don't know who to recommend it to, many people adore this book, though
Recommended to Beth by:
Christopher Moore
This book was recommended by Christopher Moore on his website -- recommended as a very funny book. It gets really fantastic reviews other places online - a lot of people really love this book and rate it 4 or 5 stars. I was really drawn in at first, but then I just didn't enjoy reading this after the first few chapters. I did keep reading until the end, though.
The characters are big weirdos, which I normally really love. I'm a big fan of Christopher Moore, Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and other...more
The characters are big weirdos, which I normally really love. I'm a big fan of Christopher Moore, Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and other...more
"Hello. My name is Robert, and I haven’t been dead for sixty-three days now.”
That’s the opening line of Love and Other Near-Death Experiences. The story of a guy named Rob and his attempts to get around a new found phobia about making decisions, since one made by chance happened to save his life. His fiance gives him an ultimatum to either get his life figured out or she wouldn’t marry him. So he put his job on the line one night as a late night Jazz DJ to talk about his problems on the air, pou...more
That’s the opening line of Love and Other Near-Death Experiences. The story of a guy named Rob and his attempts to get around a new found phobia about making decisions, since one made by chance happened to save his life. His fiance gives him an ultimatum to either get his life figured out or she wouldn’t marry him. So he put his job on the line one night as a late night Jazz DJ to talk about his problems on the air, pou...more
How does this have such a low rating?
I borrowed this book from a friend, and will now have to invest in my own copy, having borrowed it three times now.
The book is mental, the plot is loopy, and the main character is a bit of a knob. But he's a self-deprecating knob. So I still love him.
This book made me laugh out loud, and plague my family with quotes from it on a very long drive to Reading University. I loved it.
The humor in the book is a mix of sarcasm, word play and just plain bonkers occura...more
I borrowed this book from a friend, and will now have to invest in my own copy, having borrowed it three times now.
The book is mental, the plot is loopy, and the main character is a bit of a knob. But he's a self-deprecating knob. So I still love him.
This book made me laugh out loud, and plague my family with quotes from it on a very long drive to Reading University. I loved it.
The humor in the book is a mix of sarcasm, word play and just plain bonkers occura...more
I had no reason to trust this author, this being my first foray into his work, and I was ready to chuck the thing after just the first few pages of Rob and Jo's insipidly annoying communication circus centering on decisions for their pending wedding. Then Jo started sprinkling her speech with Babe this and Babe that, and I realized I was being set up (although I don't appreciate such ham-handed antics), so despite my instincts for avoiding this type of person, even in print, I stuck with it. It...more
Slow start but ends with a bang. Once you get past the first quarter of the book, Elizabeth's sometimes overpowering verbosity, and the plot-point that death is somehow avoided based on choices; the book is a breezy and light-hearted take on people that take themselves too seriously.
This book is how a life-affirming novel should be written. The characters (even Elizabeth) were engaging despite their individual pathologies. The dialogue was pithy and believable. The story never got ahead of itsel...more
This book is how a life-affirming novel should be written. The characters (even Elizabeth) were engaging despite their individual pathologies. The dialogue was pithy and believable. The story never got ahead of itsel...more
While I found this book better than the other one I read (Chemistry something), it was still pretty blah. The "twist" was not very twisty and a bit predictable. I think I laughed (inside or outside) only once. This was NOT time well spent.
Dude misses certain death because his g/f told him to do a mundane chore. Now, everytime he has to make a choice, he spends hours determining whether this choice will kill him or save his life.
He meets up with some others who have had similar experiences and a...more
Dude misses certain death because his g/f told him to do a mundane chore. Now, everytime he has to make a choice, he spends hours determining whether this choice will kill him or save his life.
He meets up with some others who have had similar experiences and a...more
I laughed out loud while reading this. I even cackled three times. That being said, this book is not good. Yes, it was consistently amusing, but I could never read more than two chapters at a time because I kept losing interest. The story lacks momentum and the writing can be frustratingly long-winded at times. There's a big difference between "careful pacing" and "deliberate stalling tactics." Right before something important happens, he likes to spend a paragraph or two babbling about somethin...more
Chosen as I had read his earlier works (things my girlfiend and a certain chemistry) a number of years ago.
Millington can certainly write sentances and set pieces that make you laugh out loud but believe it or not, there are that many in the book, every sentance has been poured over to maximise comic effect, that he becomes annoying. Rather like that character in the fast show who always tried to get a laugh at parties.
Rob is a late night radio dj who was delayed in a meeting at a pub just befor...more
Millington can certainly write sentances and set pieces that make you laugh out loud but believe it or not, there are that many in the book, every sentance has been poured over to maximise comic effect, that he becomes annoying. Rather like that character in the fast show who always tried to get a laugh at parties.
Rob is a late night radio dj who was delayed in a meeting at a pub just befor...more
This story made me laugh a lot. The characters are all a bit crazy and easy to relate to. It is about a Radio presenter from Birmingham, UK, who narrowly avoids being killed when a building collapses. A cult then tries to complete "God's Plan" by hunting him down to murder him. A bit like the "Final Destination" movies in that aspect. It's British-ness and witty sense of humour really got me drawn in. It probably fits into the "Guy-Lit" category but turns into a bit of a crime thriller halfway t...more
Not as good as Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About or Instructions For Living Someone Else's Life but better than A Certain Chemistry. Very much in the same style as all those though.
The first two thirds of it were really good, but rather like his other books it tends to lose it a bit towards the end. There was a point where I thought it had completely come off the rails but it pulled itself back together. Several of the characters feel very familiar, particularly the protagonist, but I...more
The first two thirds of it were really good, but rather like his other books it tends to lose it a bit towards the end. There was a point where I thought it had completely come off the rails but it pulled itself back together. Several of the characters feel very familiar, particularly the protagonist, but I...more
An easy read so it has to be a good book to read when stuck sick in bed... There is somebody going sort of crazy not being able to decide about the small things in life after a life changing (near death) moment, then it all turns towards a conspiracy theory and to a Bruce Willis action with a few chuckles (or giggles - as you like) and it ends up in the Hugh Grant style with happyness all round, but not quite as expected - well not all the time anyway)...
Not nearly as funny as his other book, but okay...I really understood the hero's dilemma, when he narrowly escapes death by a series of small inconsequential decisions which leads him to be unable to make any small decision, to be paralyzed by the smallest of them, such as which dish in the sink to was first, or which leg to step out of the shower with. He can make big decisions, but those tiny ones are creating "madness" as the Brits say... So he goes on a quest and meets others who have also e...more
This certainly had some laugh-out-loud moments! It was a very funny book, though I did enjoy Things My Girlfriend & I Have Argued About more. Still, Mil Millington is a very talented writer, who creates witty dialogue and fun and wild plots. The characters were interesting and the plot was unique as a whole. I really enjoyed it!
I set this one aside for right now. It was an ok book, with some genuinely funny parts. However, the author was simply trying to hard to be funny. It got exhausting. It seemed like every line written was with the intention to make you laugh. Sometimes it did, sometimes it was just annoying. I may come back to it, but probably not. I'll give the author another chance in "things my girlfriend and I have argued about" maybe that one will be better.
Absolute BRILLIANCE. I can attempt to write a proper review, but words elude me at this point in time-simply because I have YET to stop laughing. This book is BEYOND hilarious, and will have you laughing hysterically in that OH so public place you chose to read it in. Dare I say it?...funnier than Chris Moore.
Definitely the most enjoyable Mil Millington book i have read.
laugh out loud hillarious, very fast paced lots going on and a few twists to boot. You do end up feeling very sorry for the main protagonist but he is a man so he does tend to bring it all on himself.
Good funny pass the time read
laugh out loud hillarious, very fast paced lots going on and a few twists to boot. You do end up feeling very sorry for the main protagonist but he is a man so he does tend to bring it all on himself.
Good funny pass the time read
I enjoyed this book. The author wrote a website about the things he and his girlfriend have argued about, which is also very funny.
This book starts out very funny. I think it tries to end by making a serious point, but I never figured out what that point might be. Still, it was fun to read.
This book starts out very funny. I think it tries to end by making a serious point, but I never figured out what that point might be. Still, it was fun to read.
Another good one from Millington. Not quite the triumph that Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About was, but still a fun read. See if you can predict the various twists and turns. But even if you can't, you're sure to enjoy the witty, snark-tastic dialogue.
Recommended on Frank Portman's blog, this was a disappointment. The characters were kind of interesting, but the story was unbelievable in a bad way. I didn't like the overall story arc and didn't laugh nearly enough to excuse the overall blandness.
Entertaining despite having dire cardboard characters and dialogue that even a BBC3 sitcom would baulk at. The trick final chapter was quite well done, and at least this novel seemed to have a proper ending, his other ones just petered out limply.
Really it's three and a half stars. Very funny, as always. Contains girlfriend Margaret in the guise of Elizabeth, and he always writes her so well. Plot is not genius, but passable--I read Mil for the dialogue anyway.
I love Mil Millington SO MUCH. Anyone who's worked in IT, especially in an academic library, should read *Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About.* He's terribly, horribly, crazily funny. He's a slightly zanier and kinkier Nick Hornby.
Much preferred his other two books. This one just wasn't anywhere near as funny or enjoyable. I chuckled in parts, but the other books had me in stitches.
I came across a recommendation for this author by Christopher Moore on his blog so I picked it up. It is a turns hilarious. I plan to read other books of his.
Second book I've read by Mil and liked it just as much as the first (Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About). Hilarious, LOL, tremendously funny Brit humor.
I enjoyed the language, but not for the easily offended. The plot was subpar. I did enjoy the character of Elizabeth - very existential.
Man, I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or both. A little morose compared to his other two novels, but an excellent setup nonetheless.
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Mil Millington is a British author of humorous books. He first came to public prominence as a writer when he created a web-site entitled "Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About. The site's main content was (and remains) anecdotes describing arguments and misunderstandings between Mil and his German girlfriend Margret, mother of his two sons. The site was hosted on Wolverhampton University's...more
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“Zach was sitting in the passenger seat, seemingly calm and happy and content with his place in the world. The git.”
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4 people liked it
“Just think of Emily Bronte, for example: psychotically bookish - but was there ever a woman screaming out so loudly for a good f***ing? I even suspect that's why Wuthering Heights carries on decades too long rather than sensibly drawing the curtains a little after Cathy's death. It was Bronte saying, 'Look - I'm simply going to keep on writing this stuff until someone comes and shags me raw.”
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2 people liked it
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