Tuesday, January 10, 2012

There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff


Meet your unforgettable protagonist: God, who, as it turns out, is a 19-year-old boy living in the present-day and sharing an apartment with his long-suffering fifty-something personal assistant. Unfortunately for the planet, God is lazy and, frankly, hopeless. He created all of the world's species in six days because he couldn't summon the energy to work for longer. He gets Africa and America mixed up. And his beleagured assistant has his work cut out for him when God creates a near-apolcalyptic flood, having fallen asleep without turning the bath off. There is No Dog is a darkly funny novel from one of our most delightfully unpredictable writers.

What a fun book! I was luck to receive an advanced copy of it, and I can honestly say, it was one of the funniest books I’ve read in a while.

The writing is a joy. It is so fresh and witty that it makes the reader smile pretty much every few paragraphs. There is a huge amount of creativity in this novel. The characters alone are fascinatingly over the top, with Bob, a teenager who also happens to be Earth’s creator and God as the ring leader. It is impossible not to laugh at his antics. Mr. B., Bob’s assistant, also steals the scenes he’s in. His curmudgeonly attitude plays off very well with the other characters’ exuberances.

It is a fast paced novel that can be read very quickly, but it will linger with you. I suppose there are people out there who can feel offended by the tongue-in-cheek way Ms. Rosoff handles the topic of God, but since I am not one of those, I can easily recommend this book. Although it is geared for young adults, there is no reason why adult couldn’t enjoy it either. If you want a good laugh, this one is for you.



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for reviewing this! I've recently heard about it and your review makes me want to read it, now!

Susan Oloier said...

Valentina, Great review. I saw this book before on other blogs and was interested. This makes me want to read it.