Customer Reviews
Not just another five star review - By: IainL, 02 Mar 2010 
Yes, everything on Amazon seems to get a five star review. How many times have you looked for a genuinely insightful review of a product you were unsure about & been unrewarded?
Yes, another five star review that doesn't help. Should I buy it or should I not.
Well this isn't a five star review but hopefully it is helpful. Frantic Planet is a genuinely funny book from a promising young author who clearly has a talent for writing & knows the funny end of a stick from the other.
The storiesin here range from a few paragraphs to a couple of thousand word pieces, which could feasibly develop into future books of their own.
This is a book for all occasions & with the summer coming up it strikes me as the perfect book for a holiday. If you want to read it by the pool all day then you can or if you have ten minutes to read while waiting for your partner to get ready, then you'll find a funny story to fill the time.
I won't give it the full five stars as, because it's a first book & there are elements where he is still raw. Also, I think the second book is more polished all round, but this is a fine first effort & you'll be more than rewarded for the paltry sum it will cost you. Get it.
Off the hook, yo - By: Mr. D. G. MCGUINNESS, 04 Dec 2009 
I urge you to pick up this book, & Volume 2 as well. It's an extremely fun read. It's the kind of book you could easily read allin one go...but don't! No, savour it. Put it on that little wicker box you have next to the toilet that houses all the sweet smelling bath salts, & enjoy itin little morsels while you're sitting on the toilet waiting for your bubble bath to run. That's the way to go. Other reviewers have put into words far better than I can why you should buy this book, so I'm just here to add to that. Buy it now. If you buy it now, you'll be able to tell people you "were there" before the author blew up & "sold out" for the big bucks, & now all his work is commercialised pap & it's just not the same anymore :(
Sir Trevor McDonald read & enjoyed this book. If it's good enough for Sir Trev, it's good enough for you.
Frantic Planet Re-visited - By: A. Vincent, 22 Aug 2009 I first read Frantic Planet a few years ago at the recommendation (actually more of an insistence) of a friend, & with Volume 2 coming out I thought I'd write a few words.
Frantic Planet is an interesting place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. The short stories of the book contain enough darkly brilliant ideas to fill the career of some writers several times over, from the birth of an adult Ted Dansonin the opening paragraph to my personal favourite, the tale of Rutherford Munch.
A hugely impressive debut by a very disturbed mind.
Unnerving but excellent - By: S. J. Waters, 15 Aug 2009 Reading Frantic Planet was a great relief; I bought it while studying & its quick fire nature was the perfect antidote to the heavy-duty enforced reading I was enduring. I'd definitely reccomend it to anyone experiencing the same circumstances - it's a pleasure whether you have time to read itin one sitting orin installments.
From the short opening stories the author's ability to marry astutely chosen references to clever writing makes the book funny & fresh. Allusions to popular culture don't mean a lack of substance here however; the darker, longer storiesin particular (`Simple Choices', `Just a Statistic', `Rooting for Truffles') are as thought provoking as they are darkly hilarious.
Although there's innocencein sections like 'Mr Lee' & 'Nemesis', it's the sickness that runs through this book that kept me reading. Many of the stories filled me with a 'Blue Jam' sense of unease - there's a plausibility to the twisted but flawless logic of the characters that makes me wonder if these people really exist on the fringes of society (or how closely they may represent the author!). The prospect of more of the samein Volume 2 is an exciting one.
Awe-inspiring - By: I. Hamilton, 23 Jun 2006 Forget everything you know about this world - you need to suspend disbelief when you pick up Frantic Planet, & you'll be greatly rewarded for doing so.
When I bought this book, I honestly didn't know what to expect: was I going to get a series of throwaway stories that I was going to forget straight away, or would it be an astounding piece of writing?
Well, almost five months after buying the book, I still find myself flicking through it from time to time to relive the tales of the lunatic lottery winner, Ted Danson, & my own personal favourite, the man who was held hostage by an artist.
It's one of the best fiction books you read this year that hasn't been commandeered by a huge media-led bandwagon. Buy the book!
