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Book Reviews of What We Did on Our Holidays

What We Did on Our Holidays
What We Did on Our Holidays
Author: Geoff Nicholson
ISBN-13: 9780704380004
ISBN-10: 0704380005
Publication Date: 2/1/1996
Rating:
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1

3 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Quartet Books Ltd
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

perryfran avatar reviewed What We Did on Our Holidays on + 1183 more book reviews
Not sure what to think of this one. Eric, who just turned 45, decides he needs to take his wife and two teen-aged children on a holiday to a trailer park which may be their last holiday before the children leave home. Well, the holiday was not quite as expected. Before they even get to the camp, their car is wrecked in an accident. Then whatever could go wrong does go wrong in this very dark comedic satire. His oversexed wife devolves into increasing debauchery, his son turns into a wild person who wants to get back to nature and at one point actually wants to sacrifice Eric in a rite of nature. His daughter has gone totally to God and cannot condone Eric's weaknesses. Eric gets harassed by the local police, abused by other camp people, and is constantly put upon by his wife for sexual performance. Overall, a very bizarre narrative some of which hits the mark and was quite humorous but I wouldn't recommend this to everybody. I read Nicholson's The Food Chain several years ago and remember liking it more than this one. And I have a few of his other books that I need to get to.

From Wikipedia: Nicholson is generally regarded as a satirist in the tradition of Evelyn Waugh, his writing also being compared favorably with that of Kinsgley and Martin Amis, Jonathan Coe, Will Self and Zadie Smith. The main themes and features of his books include leading characters with major obsessions, sexual and otherwise (guitars, Volkswagens, women's feet and shoes), interweaving storylines and hidden subcultures and societies. His books usually contain a lot of black humour. He has also written several works of non-fiction and many short stories. His novel Bleeding London was shortlisted for the 1997 Whitbread Prize.