one of the first tom sharpe books i read, i was hooked emediately. i found the begining a little slow, but when it finally took of i never stopped laghing. i leave resonably near to the setting in the throwback and was out for a family drive, bored sensless i began reading the remainder of the book. i had just been reading about wark and black pockrington in a passage of the book when i looked up to see a sign post by the road. to my surprise it was pointing out the direction of wark. to me this seemed an amazing coincedence, to match an amazing book.

There's funny. There's hysterical, like Blott and his capers & then there's "The Throwback".Twenty years on and there are still very few books to rival this witty, saucy tale of societal & bureaucratic bedevelment, stitching family, needling neighbours and machining the powers that be, alike. I only wish I had the ability to tinker (tailored of course) with multi-nationals in the same game. Like others before me, all my copies of this book have mysteriously never returned. I have never seen a 2nd-hand copy for sale; New is now a myth; and so I have found solace in Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat traps. Best of luck keeping your copy.

Tom Sharpe is a genius and The Throwback is his best book by a long chalk. Lockhart Flawse is a hero of Moolgavkarian proportions! His naughty escapades made me laugh so much that I thought my sides were going to split (though that may also have been due to the pendularity of my belly!). I recommend this book to anyone that truly appreciates the English language and enjoys wood shampoos!

Sharpe's stories add life to the flat existence of our culture's strange little filmic sales pitches. His humor is dark and the characters are fully-formed, not like some hack actors, but rather like the folks down the street. One of my favorite books of the year.

This book is great, not only sharp and funny but oddly affecting. The smartness goes somewhere, which is a treat.

Don't buy it for the brilliant story "A Bird Accident," which vividly illustrates what happens when art gets run over-- not once, but a few times-- by commerce; don't buy it for the hilarious and terrifying ministrations of "Dr. Mom," a woman who won't stop until her kids have the very best of EVERYTHING; don't plunk down your cash for an ecstatic, cleansing homage to the blinding whites of "Tide"; no, buy it for yourself because... You're worth it.

For those who think there's no beautiful, vital fiction being written any more, that the modern novelist is getting tripped up by his or her own cleverness, or is stumped by the challenge of emotional honesty, think again. Matt Sharpe has given birth to a fictional hero who could hold her own against Huck Finn. Nothing is Terrible is an understated masterpiece with all the wit, feeling and literary slyness of Catcher in the Rye. This book deserves to be read; and once read it will certainly be remembered.

Summary: One of my all time favorites.

Sharpe stirs up a trippy anti-fairy tale and trusts his readers to navigate the darkly funny, sexy, unfamiliar landscape without a morality map. He repeatedly blurs the line between creepy and comfortable, describing a child's world that moves back and forth from nightmare to erotic fantasy. Sharpe deftly reels the reader into the narrative and then tosses him back out again, playing an edgy, risky game of cat and mouse, never letting the reader settle too comfortably into the easy-chair. The pages bubble over with humor: the brutal, mirthless kind that reminds a person anything can be funny. Nothing Is Terrible flies by quickly, but gets under your skin. Read this book and then read it again.

I'm actually a poet and have never written a fiction review, but this book really struck me. It is gorgeous, clever, original, and a surprisingly quick read (considering how unusual the characters are). Sharpe should be given credit for his writing style, wit, and depth, but most of all, he should receive high praise for working with material that is sui-generis, completely ambitious, and utterly risky. In this novel, he is like a gymnast doing a very difficult routine on the balance beam -- and he pulls it off. Brilliant technique, arresting grace, flawless dismount.