I'll Go to Bed at Noon: A Novel

I'll Go to Bed at Noon: A Novel
by Gerard Woodward

I'll Go to Bed at Noon: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Gerard Woodward
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2005-09-19
ISBN: 0393328007
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: W. W. Norton

Book Reviews of I'll Go to Bed at Noon: A Novel

Book Review: Dull, tedious, and a huge waste of my time
Summary: 1 Stars

This novel was a big disappointment. "I'll Go to Bed at Noon" is a story set in London during the 1970s. Colette Jones, a recovering alcoholic, is forced to watch alcohol consume the lives of her brother, son, and son-in law. Eventually Colette realizes that all of her family interactions tend to revolve around alcohol, so she decides to step in and intervene. Colette kicks her alcoholic son out of the house, but unfortunately she doesn't stand her ground for very long, and disaster eventually ensues.

The plot of the book is interesting enough, and I thought the story had some real potential. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Gerard Woodward may be an award-winning writer, but he certainly won't be getting any awards from me. "I'll Go to Bed at Noon" drags on and on and ON, from the first page until the very end. The pacing is unbearably slow, and every single character in the novel is irritating and unlikeable. I didn't care what happened to any member of the Jones family, and I couldn't wait to finish the book. Although the actual writing style of the novel is decent, the story itself is awful. What a waste of 437 pages, and several hours of my life!

Summary of I'll Go to Bed at Noon: A Novel

Finalist for the 2004 Booker Prize: "A loving and harrowing account of the havoc alcohol can wreak on a family."—Sarah Lyall, New York Times

Colette Jones has had problems of her own with alcohol, but now it seems as though her whole family is in danger of turning to booze. Her oldest son, Janus, the family's golden boy, has wasted his talents as a concert pianist. His drinking sprees with his brother-in-law, Bill, a pseudo-Marxist supermarket butcher who sees alcohol as central to the proletarian revolution, have turned violent and landed him in trouble with the police. Meanwhile Colette's recently widowed older brother is desperate to numb his grief. This is a darkly funny novel about a quirky, troubled family as it lurches from farce to tragedy to pub and back again. An Economist Best Book of 2004.

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