Thank you to the author Pete Young for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
It starts bad, it gets worse, and the end – well, you’ll have to read it to find out.
Life was simple for Dan Savage, unencumbered by dreams or ambition. He got by just fine, content in his little pocket of the world. He had no desire to step outside of what he knew, or broaden his horizons, or fucking – grow. He had no desire to, but as is often the case, desire frequently plays little role in the trajectory of life.
Forced from his home, a comedy of misfortune follows Dan as he attempts to navigate his new life with a busted moral compass. A breakup, a melon, a stoner, and a policeman who looks like a testicle: these are only a handful of the ingredients that make up the shit-soup that Dan’s life has devolved into as he is pursued by a mysterious law-firm, the head of a disability centre, and the unlikely threat of fame.
Review:
Holy shit. How to Fuck a Cantaloupe was like going one a road trip across the country with your friends absolutely blind drunk. It will be wild, inappropriate and a hell of a lot of fun.
Fair warning though do not read this book if you are a stuck up bitch, incapable of laughing and have high morals because all of those things go out the window on the first few pages and you will literally be sitting there thinking: “Wait…. Did I just read that?” And the answer is yes. Yes you did and fuck it was brilliant.
I had literally no idea what expect when I started reading this book, with what some would call an odd title. But in this particular case the title of the book gives you an insight to what the crazy hell is about to happen. I’m glad I went in not reading any reviews or hearing too much about this book beforehand because it left the slate blank for this epic tale of sheer dumb decisions and pure bad luck.
Dan Savage is what some would call a no hoper, doesn’t really have an ambitions in life, doesn’t really have any future goals or plans but relies on simple seer luck. Dan believes that if you do a few good deeds every now and then you even out the scale of the horrible shit you have done. Along the journey you see Dan make one bad choice after another which ultimately changes his course in life in a twisted, brutal and funny as all fuck tale.
What I loved most was Young’s ability to describe his characters surrounds without over indulging on detail. With simple key words, you find yourself understanding the setting in which it’s placed. There is no overuse of describing words, Young keeps it short and sweet and drives his main interest on the story at hand which is what a lot of writers should be doing. I do not need to know every shade of color the character is seeing around him, I ain’t got the time for that. Another bonus point is I know of one place in particular that our character Dan visits and all I can say is Young’s description of The Irish was bloody spot on.
Literally the humour was everything. No joke. I was killing myself laughing at some of the phrases and insults that were used in the story which really narrows in on how aussie actually speak. I know small thing but you always get this yanky writers thinking that their one day stopover in Sydney gives them the right of passage to understand how we speak and what our slang is and the only thing they achieve is an eye roll from aussies. But Young understands how aussie communicate, might be because his an aussie himself or might be because he understands that the aussie language is seriously unique.
For those that are wondering, you do find out how the name of the book came about and fucking hell it’s hilarious. Actually this whole book is bold, brutal and hilarious. This is one aussie author I highly recommend and I cannot wait to see what Young writes next.
Rating: 5/5
ISBN: 9780648466390
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