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Tree Surgery for Beginners
by: Patrick Gale

Off The Bookshelf's Price: £7.99

Prices subject to change.

Used Price: £2.70
Third Party New Price: £3.34

Availability: Usually dispatched within 10 to 12 days Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780006550747
ISBN: 0006550746
Label: Flamingo
Manufacturer: Flamingo
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: April 02, 2002
Publisher: Flamingo
Studio: Flamingo
Sales Rank: 80444

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Suspend your disbelief!
I have really loved some of Patrick Gale's books, particularly Rough music, A Sweet obscurity and Notes from an Exhubition but this was a sad disappointment. Sad as the plot was beyond ridiculous, disappointing because it all started out so well with some very promising characters and themes but the co-incidences in the second half of the book defy all credibility and had me laughing out loud in disbelief. However it wont stop me reading more of this very entertaining author and I would reccommend him to anyone - just not this book!

Rating:

- Tales of the Unexpected ...
Gale carves up the Family Tree & puts it back together in ways that surprise to the last page. Much of this is achieved by exploiting the reader's prejudice about birth order & family relationships. Like mental judo, he probes for a weakness - and will throw you before you know it.

If it seems improbable - it is!! If you're able to laugh at your own prejudice, you'll like this ... and it's great for existing fans of teasy, clever Gale.

* OnlyMe reviews books from an Only-Child perspective.

Rating:

- Tales of the unexpected ...
Gale carves up the Family Tree & puts it back together in ways that surprise to the last page. Much of this is achieved by exploiting the reader's prejudice about birth order & family relationships. Like mental judo, he probes for a weakness - and will throw you before you know it.

If it seems improbable - it is!! If you're able to laugh at your own prejudice, you'll like this ... and it's great for existing fans of teasy, clever Gale.

Rating:

- Touching comedy - a family-centred Tales of the City
I read this book recently on the strength of reading Gale's collection of short stories (a gift). The unlikely title and some of the plot-details on the cover may be off-putting to some. This would be a pity because Gale tells a story of many layers which succeeds because you actually care about nearly every character, and the intrigue of the plot as each character develops. (Yes the plot does depend on some unlikely coincidences, but by the time these are recognised, you don't really care, because of the way it works for the characters). At the end you understand the seemingly bizarre title, in fact the bittersweet conclusion left me a little moist-eyed. (Only Mark Helprin's books have done that to me before.)

Rating:

- Disappointing compared with reviews in the press
This was read by our book circle. We felt that the plot was too contrived and predictable and that the characters were more like caricatures than real people. If you suspend your sense of disbelief, you can enjoy the humour. From the opening, it could have made a good thriller, but the early promise wasn't fulfilled. Our overall judgement was that we wouldn't recommend this novel to those who are short of time to read.

Books : Tree Surgery for Beginners