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Palace Pier

Palace Pier

by KeithWaterhouse (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2003

    $3.18

  • Used

    Paperback 2003

    $5.60
Synopsis

Over one alcoholic weekend in Brighton, we watch the progress of Murray Gibbs, a 'nearly man' of the Swinging Sixties who is approaching his sixtieth birthday. Back in 1963 Murray's first novel sank without trace, and his second - and last - was rejected for being too much like Lucky Jim. His play was turned down by the Royal Court for being too much like Look Back in Anger, and his screenplay and television scripts were no more successful. Now, forty years on, Murray is still fixated by the sixties and the famous people he claims to have known, and inbetween running his bric-a-brac stall and conducting a desultory affair with Pearl, the landlady of his basement flat, he still lives in hope of making his own name. Then he discovers that Pearl has written a novel, and it's undeniably good. Murray offers to edit it for her for a share of the royalties, but its unflattering portraits of her friends make her reluctant to publish - until Murray makes her the very generous offer of using his name instead. Naturally Murray's dreams of fame go horribly wrong, and during this drink-sodden weekend we soon learn exactly why Murray's life has been one lost opportunity.

$3.18

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 208
 Publisher: Sceptre
Published: 26 May 2003
ISBN 10: 0340823003
ISBN 13: 9780340823002
Book Overview: Keith Waterhouse's other novels include Billy Liar , Soho , Our Song , Good Grief , Sharon and Tracy and The Rest , Unsweet Charity , There is a Happy Land , Theory and Practice of Travel and Bimbo . He is also the author of the play Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell and the memoirs City Lights and Streets Ahead .
 Prizes: Shortlisted for Saga Award for Wit 2003.

Media Reviews
PRAISE FOR SOHO:

A wonderful comedy about indolence and underachievement by a very 'unDuffyesque writer who proves with his 15th novel that he is as gifted as ever. - Harry Ritchie, Mail on Sunday

Funny and light-hearted [and] written with what appears to be an airy ease. There are also passages which offer a lively picture of the pretentiousness so often on display at literary (and indeed other) festivals. Some may choose to call this satire, but Waterhouse's delight in exposing absurdity is too good-humoured to be satirical ... With the lightest of touches, Waterhouse brings Duffy, and us, to a hard place; where things are as they really are. - Allan Massie, Scotsman

Effortlessly brilliant ... a comedy of London life which tastes as fresh as a new-baked croissant - David Robson, Sunday Telegraph

Waterhouse writes so well about those staples of comic literature: the shabby boarding house, the faded splendours of the louche seaside town. The seediness of Brighton is wonderfully evoked ... engrossing and frequently very funny - David McLaurin, Tablet

The work of a master - Hugo Barnacle, Sunday Times

Keith Waterhouse is one of the most prolific and versatile of British comic writers and SOHO finds him at his most entertaining and mischievous - William Hartson, Daily Express

A delightful novel - John Torode, Punch
Author Bio
In a long and highly successful career, Keith Waterhouse has published fourteen novels, including Billy Liar (which has been filmed and staged), Our Song (also staged) and, most recently, the critically acclaimed Soho. He is also the author of seven non-fiction books and seven collections of journalism. He has written widely for television, cinema and the theatre, including the highly successful play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, and writes an award-winning column for the Daily Mail. He has also published two acclaimed memoirs, City Lights and Streets Ahead.