The Dog Catcher

Item as described in very good condition and also delivered promptly. This book is very amusing and well written, so much so that I have purchased the follow up as well. Would recommend both book and also this seller

Bought for a friend, we both appreciate dark humour!

There’s an unsurprising amount of obscenity in this book, but it saves itself by also being funny. A collection of short stories, first published in 2001, Bizzarre, uncompromising and hilarious. You might remember Alexie Sayle from his participation in ‘The Young Ones’ and if so you will know what to expect.In ‘A Cure for Death’ Edmund Chive is 169 years old and barelly alive – he is being ferried by private plane to the giant laboratory complex that he had had constructed on the outskirts of Milton Kwiksave in Berkshire. “For godsake inject me, there’s not much time le-‘ said Edmund and then he died. But that’s not the end as he journeys on to the after-life he never believed in where he meets all his relatives, but there is one final irony in store.I’m sure Sayle is a much nicer person in real life, but in ‘Clive Hole’ his protagonist is a man in a fairly high-up position in the Media, who just cannot make decisions of which programmes and series’ he should send forward for development. As a result he resorts to climbing into his office window to avoid anyone who might force him into making decisions. As you might think, things don’t go well for him.All of these stories are nothing special, but it is the writing that is thoroughly enjoyable. Though it sometimes descends into a bit of a rant, and is even more enjoyable. In ‘Barcelona Chairs rupert (he insists that his name is not capitalisted) he has a go at modern architects:“It had dawned on him after seven years of university and fifteen years of private practice…that the big b******* of the building world, the Richard Rogers and the Norman Fosters, the work tended to be of the piddling kind. Mostly, in rupert’s case it was too rich, too little taste, private clients who spoilt his grand designs by whining about mundane practicalities, demanding shelves to put their horrible knick-knacks on and ruining his spatial flow by insisting on stupid things like walls and doors…”Great writing this is not, but it is very funny, very sharp and positioned at a time in the future when all the ‘victims’ he attacks certainly are still relevant today.

This wasn't a witty funny collection. It's just filth. I stopped reading the first story after the different sordid sexual acts the woman was taking on.Not what I want to read at all in a 'fuuny' book.

i'm not someone who reads alot, infact it takes alot to make me read a book from start to finish. i had this book on my shelf for i think 3yrs and never read it, then one day i finally picked it up and finally started it and gave myself be biggest mental kicking for not reading this fantastically funny, intelligent book before! not only that but when i finished it bought 'barcelona plates' and read it in 2wks! never have i ever read a book in 2wks before!i never though i would find anything that would alight my interest in reading but alexei sayle has managed it, i'm now reading (and lovely) 'the weeping women hotel' have 'bus journey' on the way and looking at what else is out their. if, like me, the idea of reading endless trivial fictional nonesence fills you with nausia READ THIS!as i was reading 'the dog catcher' or any of alexei sayles books, i got the distict feeling that i would ever read anything like it again, i've talked about it with loads of my friends and will be forcing it upon my big brother when i see him next wether he likes it or not! its a fantastic read! insane and fantastic!

Wow what a fantastic collection of short stories! My boyfriend lent me this book to read and I'm so glad that I did! Every story in this collection is original and refreshing, so much so that I have finished this book in under two days! Alexei Sayle has produced a work of quality here - a work which defines him as a writer and stands alone from his talents as a comedian.The Dog Catcher is the main story that stands out from this collection. It is a simple tale yet was still disturbing me the morning after I had read it. It has a dark humour to it, which is something not every writer manages to do well but which Sayle manages to do brilliantly!Other stories from the collection I would recommend people definitely read are 'Barcelona Chairs' and 'Clive Hole'. Every story in this collection is bloody good though and if you get the chance to read them... DO!

...Monsiuer Sayle being the only example thereof apart from Stephen Fry I can think of. He's especially valuable when you consider the likes of Ben (shudder) Elton and David (ugh!) Baddiel clogging up the genre...I've read and enjoyed all his stuff but I think this one might be bestest. It's worth it for "The Mau Mau Hat" alone; a beautifully observed character study with a terrible, lonely undertow. It's about ageing, and inevitably, death, yet crams in a motherlode of salty one-liners as well. The other highlight is "The Only Man Stalin Was Afraid Of", which uses a jaunty, almost simplistic style (something Sayle happens to be very good at - light but knowing, and never patronising) to rip apart the absolutely disgusting individual Uncle Joe really was, with none of the slightly histrionic moralising of Martin Amis' otherwise excellent "Koba The Dread".My only beef is that the construction - the grammar and so forth - is often shoddy. Believe me, I'm the last person to give a s**t about split infinitives and the like normally, but it's noticeable in Sayle's stuff more often than not, and this is a shame when you consider how otherwise talented he is. The impression given is of someone who thinks for months, maybe years, about the content of his stories, but when it comes to writing them, takes a couple of afternoons at most.Suggested targets for your next collection/novel, Alexei: Ben Elton, Ricky Gervais, Ariel Sharon, and a story about the BNP might be good as well. Cheers!