Behindlings

by Nicola Barker

Book Overview

Spurting with kinetic energy, nasty wit, and kindness to animals, Wesley ought to be a star. Or so it seems to the "Behindlings" -- followers who nip at his heels, turn up everywhere he goes, and lie in wait for him around every corner. They skulk through the dreary streets of their tiny English town, gathering their own scabby intentions, irritating habits, and weird manners, burying all differences in the common pursuit of their true prize, their...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060933623
• ISBN13: 9780060933623
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Don't follow me, I'm lost!

This book is, well ..., different. It is also strange, long, confusing, exasperating and just plain funny. I was reminded of the movie "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World". The characters are "characters". You might need your tool box because they all have at least one screw loose. You never seem to know what anyone's motivation is. There's a treasure hunt, but it is more smoke screen than actual plot driver. The "Behindlings" want to decipher the clues, but they also want to preserve the thrill of the chase. Their mixed hero-worship and hatred of Wesley, the key figure behind the quest, and their interactions with one another butt against the other part of the story - past events in Canvey that were hyped in a book by Wesley. If you like books that fall between the cracks of easily definable genres, then this will appeal to you. If, however, you like books that start at "A" and end neatly at "Z", then you might give this one a pass. I like off kilter books and had fun reading this one. Barker is inventive and if you relax and go with the flow this is worthwhile.

behindlings

This book is strangely inventive and imaginative, ironic in some ways, and impossible to leave it untouched for even a day. Not the ordinary hee-haa comedy sort of book, Behindlings leaves you wanting for more after reading every chapter. Barker's style of writing is fantastic, undoubtedly, and the book is, perhaps, colorful. No matter a bookaholic or not, Behindlings is a book worth your time, money, and focus.