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Title: Life! Death! Prizes!

Author: Stephen May

Narrator: Thomas Judd

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-22-14

Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Billy's mother is dead. He knows - because he reads about it in magazines - that people die every day in ways that are more random and tragic and stupid than hers, but for 19-year-old Billy and his little brother, Oscar, their mother's death in a bungled street robbery is the most random and tragic and stupid thing that could possibly have happened to them. Now Billy must be both mother and father to Oscar, and despite what his well-meaning aunt, the PTA mothers, social services, and Oscar's own prodigal father all think, he feels certain that he is the one for the job. The boys' new world - where bedtimes are arbitrary, tidiness is optional, and healthy home-cooked meals pile up uneaten in the freezer - is built out of chaos and fierce love, but it's also a world that teeters perilously on its axis. As Billy's obsession with his mother's missing killer grows, he risks losing sight of the one thing that really matters: the only family he has left.

Members Reviews:

Witty and poignant

Great read. Reminiscent of JP Donleavy in its depiction of a young man falling apart. Nice satirical view of social norms around grief and mental mental health.

The British equivalent of Catcher in the Rye, but much, much better--and funnier!

The British equivalent of Catcher in the Rye, but much, much better--and funnier!

Smart novel

Although tis is in the first person in an argot I don't entirely understand (north of England kid) it is such a smart book. The publishers aren't doing anything for it, but buy it.

When It's Good It's Very Good

Here's the thing - I didn't buy the characters, the premise is hard to swallow, substantial developments in the story are unrealistic, and on close reflection a lot of the plot doesn't make sense. But I admired and enjoyed the book anyway. There are bits - set scenes, throwaway lines, little moments of insight and honesty and authenticity - that are beautifully handled and nicely captured.

And as I think about it, there are many well loved or at least appreciated books that are carried by completely unconvincing characters or totally implausible story lines. This isn't supposed to be a "realistic" novel in the angry young man tradition. It isn't slice of life or kitchen sink drama. It isn't a sprawling epic or an historical fiction or a classic bildungsroman. There are touches of all those styles, but mostly the novel provides an opportunity for the author to riff on all manner of contemporary issues, and to explore questions of family and identity and sibling love, through the eyes, mind, and heart of a character who is articulate, wise, flawed, young, and idealized in a way that only good fiction allows.

The book has variously been described as raw, funny, heartfelt, sad, comic, gritty, heartbreaking, confused, happy, bleak, wry and tender. It is all that. It is confessional, almost more like a journal or diary turned into a running narrative, and if you like the hero's voice and are interested in what he's interested in, (or if you just like tight, sharp word craft), I would think you would enjoy this a great deal.

Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

Heartwarming tale

This is a review of the book Life! Death! Prizes! by Stephen May.