Author:Sarah Pinborough
The body in the church hall is very definitely dead. It has been sliced open with surgical precision, its organs exposed, and its vocal cords are gone. It is as if they were never there or they've been dissolved...
With the Welsh Amateur Operatic Contest getting under way, music is filling the churches and concert halls of Cardiff. The competition has attracted the finest Welsh talent to the city, but it has also drawn something else - there are stories of a metallic creature hiding in the shadows. Torchwood are on its tail, but it's moving too fast for them to track it down.
This new threat requires a new tactic - so Ianto Jones is joining a male voice choir...
Featuring Captain Jack Harkness as played by John Barrowman, with Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones as played by Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd, in the hit sci-fi series created by Russell T Davies for BBC Television.
This is a masterclass in the art of reading.
—— Robert Murphy , MetroWood is the most engaging of current commentators on literature.
—— John Sutherland , SpectatorImpressive breadth of reading (especially contemporary East Europeans here) and perceptively close attention to texts.
—— Peter Kemp , Sunday TimesIt is a pleasure to follow his education and learn something in turn.
—— EconomistThe gift of the great critic is to be able to explain complex concepts to the reader in a manner that is neither bamboozling nor patronising... Wood has this gift.
—— Andrew Anthony , ObserverShot through with his characteristic light humour and moral seriousness, each expertly constructed paragraph rich with metaphorical insight.
—— David Annand , Sunday TelegraphThe minor flaws here, then, are reassurance that Wood is merely one of the finest critics around.
—— Peter Carty , Independent on SundayAll these essays are shot through with his characteristic light humour and moral seriousness, each expertly constructed paragraph rich with metaphorical insight.
—— TelegraphThis is a book that's impossible to read without gaining a greater appreciation of what it means to write well, both in the case of the work under review and, just as pleasurably, the reviews themselves
—— Andrew Anthony , ObserverA passionate and instructive case for great writing.
—— Johanna Thomas-Corr , Evening StandardA source of continuous enjoyment.
—— Craig Raine , New StatesmanThe Fun Stuff displays the steely verve that makes James Wood's criticism thrilling for literature specialists and general readers alike.
—— Max Liu , IndependentThis collection is, as the title suggests, a lot of fun. Even when you disagree with his judgements, it's impossible not to be dazzled by the breadth of his reading.
—— Claire Lowden , Sunday Times[A] seriously enjoyable collection of essays by the New Yorker's resident literary critic
—— Sunday TelegraphJames Wood writes superbly about writing
—— William Leith , Evening StandardThis scintillating collection offers trenchant analysis and original insight into the works of a wide range of important writers
—— Mail on SundayViewed through Wood's eyes, even the best-known novels appear before us looking naked and strange
—— Robert Douglas-Fairhurst , Guardian[Wood's] encyclopaedic knowledge and compact, energetic prose makes him an illuminating and acerbic guide to literary giants
—— Big Issue in the North[Wood] delivers some golden insights
—— Fachtna Kelly , Sunday Business Post[Wood's] insight into writing is impressive and the sheer joy that he takes in others' literary dexterity is infectious
—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on SundayA panoramic look at the modern novel
—— ObserverElegant little novel and a real delight to read
—— BookOxygen.com