Still Life with Volkswagens

by Geoff Nicholson

Book Overview

Throughout the land VW Beetles are spontaneously combusting. Nazi skinheads are cruising the streets and a millionaire tycoon and a weather girl have been kidnapped. It falls to Barry Osgathorpe to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879516941
• ISBN13: 9780879516949
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Geoff is fun to read

I purchased this title a a gift for a "bugged" friend after reading another of his books and seeing this on his back list. It shall not disappoint.

Quirky Fun

Apparently this is the second Volkswagen-themed novel by this British author. I have not as yet read "Street Sleeper," so I can't tell you if this is the better of the two or not. What I can tell you is that is a mostly amusing tale of a number of Brits all bound together in one way or another by Volkswagens. The main problem is that all across England, there are Volkswagen's blowing up left and right. Who is doing and why, and how they can be stopped is the alleged plot which drives this book, but the reader is mostly along for the ride as the main characters search for meaning in their existence. I get the impression that many of the main characters appeared previously in "Street Sleeper," but how long the interval has been in unclear. It's a little tough to describe a novel which culminates in a rave/VW expo under siege by eight neo-Nazi skinheads and their delusional leader, who is questing after a holy grail comprised of a hand carved VW whose sun roof opens to reveal human bone replicas of Hitler and Eva Braun in flagrante... All I can say is that if you have a taste for the quirky, check it out.

Unexpected and fun.

I bought this book at first because I too have a strange passion for Volkswagens. I was thoroughly delighted when I discovered that Mr. Nicholson had a great story to back up the VW obsession, once I got over the horror of destroying all those VWs that is. The strange cast of characters and their individual motivations are brilliantly woven together. The amazing thing is that even at it's most confusing and destructive I didn't want this novel to end. I look forward to trying his other works.

Cool Obsession

I was worried that this book might be to 'British' for my American tastes, but it was wonderful. Well paced, colorful characters, and a good mix of action and humor. Well worth the money.

Absurd...Funny...Original...and certainly full of life

If you've never met a collector of Volkswagen beetle memor abilia, you don't have a complete grasp of the meaning of the proverb: "It takes all kinds..." Nicholson brings the reader a diverse group of Volkswagen "nuts", and with some of his characters, the quotation marks would be optional. All of his characters, from an annoyingly precocious little boy, to a millionaire who vanished, to a platoon of neo-Nazi skinheads are brought together convincingly by that odd-shaped "car of the people" in this absurd romp through our times. And Nicholson skillfully weaves his own connection to the Bug into the novel via asides to the reader which just add to one's conviction that one has entered an alternate universe. Have no fear: you will reach a satisfying ending from which you will be allowed to return to your own reality, where people drive Chryslers, Jeeps, Hondas, and 4-wheel drive pick-ups.