Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Pryck’s Progress / Philip Marshall

Reviewed by:  Corina

Genre:  Romantic Comedy

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Born in New Zealand in 1947, Philip Marshall has also lived in Thailand, Japan, and the Philippines. Marshall has a small internet footprint (from my quick searches), except for a Wikipedia User page. Marshall has one other novel, The Davenport Files.

Description:

Born with an unfortunate name, John Pryck has an uphill climb overcoming the bullying of his early years. Born British, he is polite and diplomatic, which helps with his progression. With a co-worker even more socially challenged than he is, Pryck sets out to find Ms. Right Now, with the hope of learning enough to eventually catch Ms. Right. The journey takes both young men to Thailand, where things really get interesting.

Appraisal:

This book was not one I would have picked up off the shelf, unfortunately. I say that because I enjoyed this book much more than I ever would have expected from the cover or the description. 

Using gentle, polite humor, Marshall describes Pryck’s constant self-awareness and low self-esteem, without making him pitiful or rage-filled. His moniker results in very little positive social interaction with his peers in school, and a woeful lack of experience with the fairer sex. The time in which the book is set is unclear, but it is sometime after personal ads became popular, and before the advent of the internet or cellular phones. I found it easy to read, and didn’t think much about the “when” of it.

Pryck joins forces with his Scottish colleague, who is even more clueless about dating and love, and they set out, first in England, and later in Thailand, to search for fun and love, in that order. Their romantic edification is humorous and educational. I learned quite a bit more about England, Thailand, and Japan.

Although I was able to put this book down to get a good night’s sleep, I was happy to pick it up again the next day. Pryck’s Progress is a book that I would highly recommend to any reader who can appreciate good solid writing, polite (not crass or bawdy) humor, and a thoughtful, uplifting storyline. 

FYI:

Some polite sexual content, nothing overly graphic or non-vanilla.

Format/Typo Issues:

Not an issue.

Rating: **** Four Stars

2 comments:

?wazithinkin said...

This sounds like a book I may be interested in, I will pick up a sample. If the book is not selling maybe the author should consider a change in the book cover. WOW, and maybe a price drop, $9.95 is a bit steep. Just sayin'.

BooksAndPals said...

Thanks, Linda. I had some of the same thoughts. Including thinking I might enjoy the book.