Monday, May 6, 2013

Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident **

I picked up a Kindle copy of The Teleportation Accident based on a very positive review in PopMatters, a site from which I've gotten good recommendations before. ("It’s a stylish, weird, witty, innovative, head-shaking kind of book") However, this recommendation was a bust.

Beauman attempts a tone that falls somewhere between witty social farce and 1940s deadpan noir. Despite the occasional clever turn of phrase, the prose has the awkward quality that comedy has when it's not landing. The story is too zany by half and is populated by characters with silly back stories and cardboard motivations.

Very disappointing.

No comments:

Post a Comment