A Spot of Bother is Mark Haddon's unforgettable follow-up to the internationally beloved bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. At sixty-one, George Hall is settling down to a comfortable retirement. When his tempestuous daughter, Katie, announces that she is getting married to the deeply inappropriate Ray, the Hall family is thrown into a tizzy. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind. As parents and children fall apart and come together, Haddon paints a disturbing yet amusing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.A Washington Post Best Book of the Year

Haddon, Mark, 1962- author

Golden Books Publishing Company, Incorporated

Random House, Incorporated

Constable and Robinson

Random House UK Ltd

Vintage Books USA

Vintage Digital

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

United States, United States of America

New York, New York State, 2007

Reprint, August 14, 2007

New Ed, 2007

London, 2007

London, 2006

Some texts are skewed

<p><p>george Hall Is An Unobtrusive Man. A Little Distant, Perhaps, A Little Cautious, Not Quite At Ease With The Emotional Demands Of Fatherhood Or Of Manly Bonhomie. The Secret Of Contentment, George Felt, Lay In Ignoring Many Things Completely. Some Things In Life Can't Be Ignored, However&#58; His Tempestuous Daughter Katie's Deeply Inappropriate Boyfriend Ray, For Instance, Or The Sudden Appearance Of A Red Circular Rash On His Hip.at 57, George Is Settling Down To A Comfortable Retirement, Building A Shed In His Garden And Enjoying The Freedom To Be Alone When He Wants. But Then He Runs Into A Spot Of Bother. That Red Circular Rash On His Hip&#58; George Convinces Himself It's Skin Cancer. And The Deeply Inappropriate Ray? Katie Announces He Will Become Her Second Husband. The Planning For These Frowned-upon Nuptials Proves A Great Inconvenience To George's Wife, Jean, Who Is Carrying On A Late-life Affair With Her Husband's Ex-colleague. The Halls Do Not Approve Of Ray, For Vague Rea...</p><h3>publishers Weekly</h3><p>recent Retiree George Hall, Convinced That His Eczema Is Cancer, Goes Into A Tailspin In Haddon's (curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time) Laugh-out-loud Slice Of British Domestic Life. George, 61, Is Clearly Channeling A Host Of Other Worries Into The Discoloration On His Hip (the Spot Of Bother): Daughter Katie, Who Has A Toddler, Jacob, From Her Disastrous First-marriage To The Horrid Graham, Is About To Marry The Equally Unlikable Ray; Inattentive Wife Jean Is Having An Affair-with George's Former Co-worker, David Symmonds; And Son Jamie Doesn't Think George Is Ok With Jamie's Being Queer. Haddon Gets Into Their Heads Wonderfully, From Jean's Waffling About Her Affair To Katie's Being Overwhelmed (by Jacob, And By Her Impending Marriage) And Jamie's Takes On Men (and Boyfriend Tony In Particular, Who Wants To Come To The Wedding). Mild-mannered George, Meanwhile, Despairing Over His Health, Slinks Into A Depression; His Major Coping Strategies Involve Hiding Behind Furniture On All Fours And Lowing Like A Cow. It's An Odd, Slight Plot-something Like The Movie Father Of The Bride Crossed With Poe's The Tell-tale Heart (as Skin Rash)-but It Zips Along, And Haddon Subtly Pulls It All Together With Sparkling Asides And A Genuine Sympathy For His Poor Halls. No Bother At All, This Comic Follow-up To Haddon's Blockbuster (and Nicely Selling Book Of Poems) Is Great Fun. (sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.</p>

George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not at quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood, or manly bonhomie. He does not understand the modern obsession with talking about everything. “The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.” Some things in life, however, cannot be ignored.
At 61, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels and listening to a bit of light jazz. Then his tempestuous daughter, Katie, announces that she is getting re-married, to the deeply inappropriate Ray. Her family is not pleased – as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has “strangler’s hands.” Katie can’t decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob, and her mother Jean is a bit put out by all the planning and arguing the wedding has occasioned, which get in the way of her quite fulfilling late-life affair with one of her husband’s ex-colleagues. And the tidy and pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials.
Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind.
The way these damaged people fall apart – and come together – as a family is the true subject of Haddon’s disturbing yet amusing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.
A SPOT OF BOTHER is Mark Haddon’s unforgettable follow-up to the internationally beloved bestseller THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME. Here the madness – literally – of family life proves rich comic fodder for Haddon’s crackling prose and bittersweet insights into misdirected love.

At 57, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jazz. Then Katie, his tempestuous daughter, announces that she is getting remarried, to Ray. Her family isn't pleased - as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has 'strangler's hands'. Her mother Jean is a bit put out by all the planning the wedding has occasioned, which gets in the way of her affair with one of George's former colleagues. The pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind. This is Mark Haddon's disturbing yet very funny portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely

At fifty-seven, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jazz. Then Katie, his tempestuous daughter, announces that she is getting remarried, to Ray. Her family is not pleased - as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has 'strangler's hands'. Katie can't decide if she loves Ray, or loves the way he cares for her son Jacob, and her mother Jean is a bit put out by the way the wedding planning gets in the way of her affair with one of her husband's former colleagues. And the tidy and pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind.

354 pages ; 21 cm
At the age of sixty-one, George Hall settles to a comfortable retirement. His tempestuous daughter, Katie, then announces that she is getting remarried to the deeply inappropriate Ray to her family's displeasure. Her mother, Jean, is disgusted with the huge preparation the wedding entails, which also disrupts her late-life affair with one of her husband's ex-colleagues. The seemingly neat and pleasant life of George and Jean's son, Jamie, disintegrates when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials

Unnoticed in the uproar, George quietly begins to go mad. The way a family of damaged people fall apart - and come together - is the true subject of Haddon's hilarious and disturbing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely

2023-06-28