Looking for Sarah Jane Smith

by Dave Franklin

Part road trip and part celebration of idiotic male friendship, Looking for Sarah Jane Smith is sure to strike a chord with those who appreciate Withnail & I, Peep Show and Bill Hicks.

Marty's living in a Welsh town he hates, doing a job he's lost interest in and so bored he can't even be bothered with sex.
But a new life beckons in Australia. It's also a chance to get away from his stupid mates, the loveable loser John and the ultra-macho Wasp Boy.
Maybe he'll even meet an exquisite girl like his Doctor Who heroine, Sarah Jane Smith, and live happily ever after...

Looking for Sarah Jane Smith - For anyone who suspects life's a bit rubbish.

*** R-rated for bad language and politically incorrect humour ***

Length: 66,000 words.

..".if there's one thing that stands out about this, it's how bloody funny it is. I actually packed Looking for Sarah Jane Smith for a long-haul flight and such a page-turner did it prove to be that I finished it within a couple of hours." - Living Abroad Magazine

"While not in any means a Doctor Who book, Looking for Sarah Jane Smith is a good example of how Doctor Who has infiltrated the national psyche, as well as portraying how humans relate to fantasy figures... A post-modern laddist cult classic." - Kasterborous (Doctor Who website)

..".A bitter, crude, but funny book... These boys are not particularly likeable, but their story is raw, honest, unsophisticated and rooted in bittersweet reality." - Post Newspapers

"Franklin's prose combines the earthiness of Irvine Welsh with the biting sarcasm of a young Kingsley Amis as he chronicles the adventures and mishaps of Marty and his two loser mates." - Community Newspaper Group

"An agreeably raucous and politically incorrect novel that touches on Dr Who and men behaving badly. Its strong language and adult scenes make it the perfect Christmas gift for that younger brother or impressionable nephew." - The West Australian

178 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Born in Wales, Dave Franklin published his first story in a fishing magazine at the age of sixteen. He emigrated to Australia in 1999 and made his living as a reporter, earning the distinction of being sacked twice by the same Perth-based newspaper group. He then spent nearly three years teaching English in Korea, during which the mortality rate of the children under his care remained at an impressive zero. He now teaches ESL to adults in Brisbane, helping (among others) Thai Lady Boys get to grips with their past participles.

The major theme of Dave's small, character-driven stories is alienation, the symptoms of which include male immaturity, misogyny, dysfunction, religion, violence, self-destruction and a childish glee in winding up the politically correct. There are no car chases or explosions in his books; instead he prefers graphic, outlandish sex scenes while focusing on exasperated loners full of doubt.

People who like his work tend to see its black humour (and disdain for his own characters) whereas his harshest critics take everything at face value. Indeed, some observers would suggest that the highlight of his writing career, which has seen him produce eight novels, remains being published in a fishing magazine.

Reviews

[Ted Witham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The anthology contains three short novels. I read only the title story, a quite amusing entertainment centred around reporters for The Chronicle in Fremantle, an activist working for an animal protection group, and a half-witted robber from Balga.
The writing was quite witty, almost laugh out loud, and I enjoyed the thrill of recognition of places and institutions (like catching the Rotto ferry.)
The book is not aimed at me: I may have enjoyed all the drunk jokes and alcholohic behaviour more when I was 20, but I saw the plot through to the end.

[Jodez · Rating 1 out of 5]

had its moments, but pretty meh.