2007-04-08 Insightful, witty and laugh out loud funny.

I have just finished "The Big Happy" - a novel by Scott Mebus. It is every bit as good as its predecessor, his previous novel "Booty Nomad". I don't know what sub-genre of fiction these books belong to but they are of a similar style to books by Nick Hornby and Mike Gayle. I imagine they dont really have a pigeon hole, but BlokeLit would be pretty close...Anyway, this book is extremely witty and funny, it had me laughing out loud in several places (the garden, in bed, on the train). Yet the humour never came at the expense of the heart of the story - it somehow enriched it. From a writing perspective, i found it impressive how Scott managed to mix everything together to create a main character with fantastic depth. He can be crude, thoughtless and pigheaded but also funny, honest and emotional. He is as imperfect as any person should be, and its fascinating to read his insights: when he tries to makes sense of life, and how he feel inside. I have rarely read a book that articulates the thoughts of a character quite so well.

A wonderful book, highly recommended.