A Spot of Bother: A Novel

I wasn't sure what to expect after listening to The Curious Incident, which I *loved*, but Harmon delivered on this one, too. Narrated from several characters' viewpoints, the listener gets inside a British family's joys and flaws, laughing and sympathizing the whole way through. When my iPod runs out of whatever's new in the car, I've returned to this story with pleasure. Enjoyable.

I laughed, I cried. Laughed more than cried. Rooted for each character, even though they had opposing goals. His first two books are wonderful, this one and the 'Curious Incident...'

Not so heavyweight, but memorable and worthwhile. Even delightfully ironic you might argue, the cosy, matter-of-fact style versus the subject matter. It is easy to picture a masterpiece in Haddon's future.

This is a wonderful book about a very flawed family and how they deal with each other and various catastrophes in their lives. I love love love the narrator. He is one of my favorites. At times very difficult to listen to, this book is very real. If you read The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night, this book is very differnt but still captures the utter humanity of each of these imperfect characters.

After "the curious incident", a book that I absolutely loved, I was greatly disappointed.
I found this book to be wanting of a story line.
There really was limited overall message/story that linked everything together

Bother with it. This very nicely written and excellently narrated novel details the events of yet another dysfunctional British family as the days peel away toward the matriarchal daughter's second wedding. The father, George, is rapidly deteriorating into a pleasantly numb malaise, while his wife sleeps with an ex-colleague, his gay son's relationship falls apart and his daughter veers away from then back to marriage.

A good read with wonderful descriptions and details of this family's life. Oddly, the story occasionally drifts into nearly graphic sex, focusing mostly on Jamie's gay relationship. On the whole, however, full of laughs and pathos and insights. Read it, especially for the narrator's brilliant voice characterizations.

What a delight of wonderful story, brilliant language, amazing narration. Not a wasted word or an unfilled moment of narration. When it all comes together like this I kinda want to weep for joy. Thank you!

A delightful foray into the nature of family and love, and whether either is definable or teachable. Like his previous novel, you're left wondering how Mr. Haddon knows these things. Smashing fun.

This is a touching, funny, tender story of a British family's mental journey as they prepare for the daughter's wedding. The characters are rich, brilliantly described. The narrator is amazing. His reading of the young grandson is so spot-on that I laughed almost every time the young boy spoke. The only problem with this book is that it ends (although I thought the ending was perfect).

Although "A Spot of Bother" can't compare to Hadden's fabulous "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" it is still an entertaining and endearing story. This book reminds me a lot of the work of Nick Hornby with it's quirky British characters and laugh-out-loud details.

...because I love the narrator and loved this author's previous book in handheld form.

I found listening to this bleakly comic tale of woe and glacial coming to terms arguably too much like being imprisoned and forced to watch a sitcom that you just do not like.

Maybe I'll pick up a paperback of it in the library someday and see if my hunch is right: the book probably does not survive even masterly narration, unless one enjoys squirming in discomfort for hours at a time.