Pistache Returns

Pistache

by Sebastian Faulks

A collection of fanciful, satirical and surprising parodies, squibs and pastiches inspired by The Write Stuff on BBC Radio 4.

Pistache (pis-tash): a friendly spoof or parody of another's work. [Deriv uncertain. Possibly a cross between pastiche and p**stake.]

     From the writer of such brilliant parodies as Thomas Hardy's football report and Dan Brown's visit to the cash dispenser comes another collection of witty pastiches.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, British Literature

128 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2011

About the author

Sebastian Faulks is a British novelist, journalist, and broadcaster best known for his acclaimed historical novels set in France, including The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong, and Charlotte Gray. Alongside these, he has written contemporary fiction, a James Bond continuation novel (Devil May Care), and a Jeeves homage (Jeeves and the Wedding Bells). A former literary editor and journalist, Faulks gained widespread recognition with Birdsong, which solidified his literary reputation. He has also appeared regularly on British media, notably as a team captain on BBC Radio 4's The Write Stuff, and authored the TV tie-in Faulks on Fiction. Honored as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and appointed CBE for his services to literature, Faulks continues to publish widely, with The Seventh Son released in 2023.

Reviews

[Karl Baldacchino · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious set of pieces recorded during BBC 4’s The Write Stuff! Would recommend reading once acquiring a certain taste for the classic authors and poets; but based on pop culture and some vague idea of the classics alone got me chuckling and guffawing aloud.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather uneven selection of Faulk's pastiches of major writers, mainly for the BBC Radio 4 programme, The Write Stuff. But some are extremely good, aping the style of the writer as well as being very funny in their own right/write! Particularly good in this collection are Betjeman on the Occupy demonstration at St Paul's Cathedral, Blake's Tyger, Tyger but as an advertisement for a holiday villa, Ian Fleming's 007 waorking as a plumber after retirement, and a poem after Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven about a murder.
But note that several of the pieces included here are repeated from the earlier collection, Pistache, which is a bit of a swizz.

[Popup-ch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pistache (pronounced piss-take) is a pastiche where Faulks is playing with language and literature. He imitates various authors and genres but changes the setting (and turns up all the dials to eleven). We have James Bond reincarnated as a plumber and Robinson Crusoe going to Ibiza. The stories are only a couple of pages each, but that's enough to get the feel of it. Faulks is a master of the English language, and he clearly had a good time writing this. Unfortunately, the quality is rather varied, and while there are some nuggets of gold here, there's also dross.

[Andrew Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb. Exceptionally well written and amazingly styled to the various authors under consideration. I loved every page and each and every one brought a smile, if not an outright chortle. Will now have to hunt down the first offering, ‘Pistache’. Wonderful stuff, so many thanks Mr. Faulks.

[Michael Coney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventive

Sebastian Faulks is absolutely one of my favourite 3 authors and I loved Pistache. I didn't feel this was quite in the same league. Good inventive writing but missed the mark slightly for me.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not such a good read as the first one - especially as some pieces from the previous collection were used again. E.g. Shakespeare's Fawlty was here and still amusing but it feels like the overall joke has worn a bit thin now.

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a patch on the first one.