Don't Point That Thing at Me

by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Book Overview

Almost everyone dunit, including two or three governments. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585675628
• ISBN13: 9781585675623
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Of Course it's a Cult Classic! I Just Didn't Know That When I Saw the Movie.

I heard the movie Mortdechai with Johnny Depp (2015) was terrible. But I like terrible movies, and affected British characters (sometimes), so I eventually got around to watching it. It's wasn't terrible. It was a lot of fun, and had some surprisingly witty dialog. For some reason, the title of the book in the closing credits stuck in my mind (and a good thing, too!). The book is great! Some reviewer described the book as P.G. Wodehouse meets Raymond Chandler, and it couldn't be said better. It's a great detective story but it's also really funny! and Mortdechai is one of those great, quirky 1970s antiheroes we need more of today. I've since read that it's a big cult favorite in Britain, and I can certainly see why. Go. Buy it. Read it. Tell others about it just to get them hooked too. Mortdechai would.

Indulgent, witty fun

As has been noted, if you're looking for a traditional detective story, you won't be served well by this book. Yes, there's a mystery (though the plot is a bit convoluted), but the real draw is the narrator -- a debauched cad of an art dealer -- and the author's deft passages: "Your mother and father met only once. Money changed hands. A dime, probably." It's a guilty pleasure of novel, and while it can't quite compete with Hammett or Chandler, it's not fundamentally the same sort of novel. In the end, I didn't care who killed who; I was just sad this series of clever, lurid misadventures came to an end. Time to order the next one.

Not just Wodehouse.

Although I enjoy Wodehouse, with whom Bonfiglioli is endlessly compared, I find more apt comparisons to S.J. Pereleman and, in his darkness, to some of the 20th century Eastern European writers. But he is also quite an orginal voice; there is nothing really quite like him that I have read. Will read more as they come out in the US.

When Your Manservant is Named Jock Strapp....

When the detective in the mystery has a manservant named Jock Strapp, you get a pretty good idea of what to expect. It's a detective story, well sort of as the hero is not all that honest himself, even when he's sober. So you combine the stolen paints, the secret police, a dead client, and the obligatory ravishing young widow -- and it's hard to make a dishonest living. This is the first of a series of British mysteries beginning in 1972. It's written by an art dealer. But as the introduction says, This is not an autobiographical novel: It is about some other portly, dissolute, immoral and middle-aged art dealer. The rest of the characters are quite imaginary too, especially that Mrs. Spon, but most of the places are real. Popular enough to have assumed almost cult status in England, I'm glad to see that it's finally crossed the pond.

Seventie's Thriller that is Still Thrilling Today!

I knew that "Don't Point That Thing at Me" had originally came out in the 70's and that it was very witty in the British style and I kind of like that stuff, but I'd never gotten a chance to read it, so when I saw it on sale at my local shop, I couldn't pass it up. From start to finish, this book is hysterical. It revolves around an unsavory character by the name of CharlieMortdecai. At first glance, Charlie appears to be an aristocrat; he wears expensive clothing, drinks fancy cocktails, and hobnobs with the high and mighty. What he really is though is a scoundrel who will do anything to make a buck. He's an art dealer of not so moral means, who gets involved with stolen art and blackmail. What I really enjoyed about the book is the wonderfully descriptive writing. Everything was described with so much care in order to make the reader feel as if they are a part of what's going on. This book had me staying up way past my bedtime several nights in a row. If you are a fan of crime thrillers and dark humor, this book will not let you down! Ms. Mindy Adams

A crime classic, well worth reading.

This is a really good book with a mixture of comedy, crime and suspense. It narates the picaresque adventures of a corrupt, mysogynist art dealer. Highly recommended