The Pheasants' Revolt

by Brian Viner

By the end of their first year at Docklow Manor the Viners have adapted well to country life. Now, in the follow up to 'Tales of the Country', the family try to develop some of their cottages as holiday lets but not without encountering their fair share of disaster.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Humor

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2007

Reviews

[Phil]

I suppose I should have been warned by the number of times the words 'hilarious' and 'uproarious' appear on the cover...One has the feeling that Viner was continually muttering 'must be funny, must be funny, must be funny' the whole time he was writing this book, and the result is a kind of relentless, laboured humour that is more boring than amusing.

He also seems to be under the impression that to be a 'real' rural person, you have to talk a lot about sex. So we start off with an account of his vasectomy, move on to an anecdote about viagra and then have some 'funny' stories about a dominatrix who keeps poultry, Shetland ponies mating, a peeping tom, a labrador that humps visitors and then back to the viagra. By the time I was a quarter of the way through the book, I felt like hurling it across the room if I had to read one more double entendre or coy joke about cockerels.

There were one or two genuinely funny or touching moments, and those push the rating up to 2 stars, but only just.

[Adele]

Another excellent collection of Tales from the semi-local environs of my home/work which gave the descriptions of villages and landmarks added interest.
Brian Viner balances the reality of moving his family to the country with an honesty, wit and warmth that’s a joy to read.

[Chris The Story Reading Ape]

Well written and just as entertaining as the previous book 'Tales of the Country', continuing the predicaments that the author, his family and their long-suffering friends and neighbours in the area, get into and out of (sometimes, only barely).

See my review also at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-revie...

[Erica Fairs]

Ha ha ha! A brilliant book - real-life country story written with a wry, caustic and extremely funny sideways look at life outside the metropolis. Do read this if you need cheering up.

[Gill Mazonas]

again a bit twee. would feel abit upset if I was a local