I thought today, for something completely different, I'd do a book review of a book from Australian author Hayden Bradford; Travesty!
As anyone who knows me will attest, I've always been a voracious reader - reading just about anything I could get my hands on. The only downside of becoming an author myself and focusing on my own writing was that I had let my reading slip to virtually nothing at all.
Now, all the experts tell me that to be a good writer, you absolutely must read other people's works.
With that "guilt" fresh in my mind, I determined that I was going to return to reading, as a relaxation, on a more regular basis. I'd met Hayden through the Twitter group #promocave, which is an author group that allows us to promote and encourage fellow authors. I had always been intrigued by the Twitter posts Hayden had used to promote his book, such as; "the most politically incorrect book ever written", "you'll pee your pants when you read this book". That plus the fact that, like my first novel, Travesty was dealing with the interaction between heaven and earth; made me very keen to read it.
When I discovered it was available for a limited time for free on Kindle, I decided to "never look a gift horse in the mouth" and downloaded it. If like me you thought you could only read Kindle books if you had a Kindle reader, I'm here to tell you that's not the case. There are applications that will allow you to read Kindle Books on smart-phones, your laptop, or indeed on your PC. You just need to download them and the whole world of Kindle Books will open up to you. You can actually download them from the Amazon page, so don't hesitate - get your Kindle Reader today and start reading.
As anyone who knows me will attest, I've always been a voracious reader - reading just about anything I could get my hands on. The only downside of becoming an author myself and focusing on my own writing was that I had let my reading slip to virtually nothing at all.
Now, all the experts tell me that to be a good writer, you absolutely must read other people's works.
With that "guilt" fresh in my mind, I determined that I was going to return to reading, as a relaxation, on a more regular basis. I'd met Hayden through the Twitter group #promocave, which is an author group that allows us to promote and encourage fellow authors. I had always been intrigued by the Twitter posts Hayden had used to promote his book, such as; "the most politically incorrect book ever written", "you'll pee your pants when you read this book". That plus the fact that, like my first novel, Travesty was dealing with the interaction between heaven and earth; made me very keen to read it.
When I discovered it was available for a limited time for free on Kindle, I decided to "never look a gift horse in the mouth" and downloaded it. If like me you thought you could only read Kindle books if you had a Kindle reader, I'm here to tell you that's not the case. There are applications that will allow you to read Kindle Books on smart-phones, your laptop, or indeed on your PC. You just need to download them and the whole world of Kindle Books will open up to you. You can actually download them from the Amazon page, so don't hesitate - get your Kindle Reader today and start reading.
Right, on to the book itself. Travesty is published by Hayden himself and is approximately 300 pages long. I am surprised to discover the length, given I managed to read the entire book in virtually one sitting; it really is that easy a read.
Now Travesty is NOT for everyone. If you are easily offended, or politically correct, do not buy this book. If, like me, however you enjoy cutting satire and a good old-fashioned yarn, written in everyday language that we can all identify with, then Travesty is a "damn good read".
To give you the basic premise of the book; without spoiling any of the surprises, this is the basic plot. Travesty was so named by his Mother, because she foresaw his birth as the beginning of a long, drawn out disaster for her. Travesty is your archetypal Aussie layabout. He hates work and prefers instead to partake in a life of lying around, drinking himself silly and when the need arises indulging in the pleasures of "agency girls".
Unfortunately for Travesty his life is cut short by an angry Mother who catches him and an "agency girl" in her marital bed. Death, much to his surprise is not the end, but rather the beginning of his adventures. To his shock and horror, Travesty finds himself in heaven and in an audience with God himself. He discovers that only Baptists (of which he was christened one) are allowed into Heaven, regardless of the sort of life they had led on Earth.
Heaven is nothing like what he expected it to be and the book follows his interactions with the inhabitants of heaven, culminating in a "Second Coming", when Travesty, not Jesus, returns to save the people of the Earth from the Global Financial Crisis.
There are many genuinely funny and bizarre scenes in this book, which will live long in my memory long after my read. The satire is very pronounced and cutting, and will resonate with all those who have ever experienced the arrogance and pomposity of many, religious, political and bureaucratic leaders. While it is true that I did not "pee my pants" whilst reading this book I was regularly brought to laughter and chuckling. It is a fantastic read for anyone who has ever "cocked a snoot" at authority.
Two scenes in particular will live long in my memory; The description of the creation of the Universe - "The Big Bang" and Hayden's interpretation of Travesty's first meeting with God. As I read these sections I commented under my breath; "this man is a pure genius". The two passages were awesome.
Now Travesty is NOT for everyone. If you are easily offended, or politically correct, do not buy this book. If, like me, however you enjoy cutting satire and a good old-fashioned yarn, written in everyday language that we can all identify with, then Travesty is a "damn good read".
To give you the basic premise of the book; without spoiling any of the surprises, this is the basic plot. Travesty was so named by his Mother, because she foresaw his birth as the beginning of a long, drawn out disaster for her. Travesty is your archetypal Aussie layabout. He hates work and prefers instead to partake in a life of lying around, drinking himself silly and when the need arises indulging in the pleasures of "agency girls".
Unfortunately for Travesty his life is cut short by an angry Mother who catches him and an "agency girl" in her marital bed. Death, much to his surprise is not the end, but rather the beginning of his adventures. To his shock and horror, Travesty finds himself in heaven and in an audience with God himself. He discovers that only Baptists (of which he was christened one) are allowed into Heaven, regardless of the sort of life they had led on Earth.
Heaven is nothing like what he expected it to be and the book follows his interactions with the inhabitants of heaven, culminating in a "Second Coming", when Travesty, not Jesus, returns to save the people of the Earth from the Global Financial Crisis.
There are many genuinely funny and bizarre scenes in this book, which will live long in my memory long after my read. The satire is very pronounced and cutting, and will resonate with all those who have ever experienced the arrogance and pomposity of many, religious, political and bureaucratic leaders. While it is true that I did not "pee my pants" whilst reading this book I was regularly brought to laughter and chuckling. It is a fantastic read for anyone who has ever "cocked a snoot" at authority.
Two scenes in particular will live long in my memory; The description of the creation of the Universe - "The Big Bang" and Hayden's interpretation of Travesty's first meeting with God. As I read these sections I commented under my breath; "this man is a pure genius". The two passages were awesome.
This really is an amazing book and a whole lot of fun. I would urge you to go and purchase it for your reading pleasure. You won't be sorry you did. If I was giving out stars, Travesty would garner a 5-star rating in my book. Well done that man!
It was only at the end of the book that I read something about the Author; Hayden Bradford. Hayden has been battling debilitating depression and associated neurological issues for a number of years now and the book was written - as he puts it; "I needed to write a good, fun story that would make my head laugh as I wrote it."
More power to you Hayden! May you continue your recovery with more irreverent, politically incorrect, and outrageously funny material.
Travesty is actually a reincarnation of an earlier book written by Hayden, under the pen-name Joshua Hosea, titled; "I Taught God to Gamble". This book is also available from Amazon.
I urge you to give it a read:
You can check out Hayden's book Travesty here:
It was only at the end of the book that I read something about the Author; Hayden Bradford. Hayden has been battling debilitating depression and associated neurological issues for a number of years now and the book was written - as he puts it; "I needed to write a good, fun story that would make my head laugh as I wrote it."
More power to you Hayden! May you continue your recovery with more irreverent, politically incorrect, and outrageously funny material.
Travesty is actually a reincarnation of an earlier book written by Hayden, under the pen-name Joshua Hosea, titled; "I Taught God to Gamble". This book is also available from Amazon.
I urge you to give it a read:
You can check out Hayden's book Travesty here:
http://www.amazon.com/Satire-Hysterical-Australian-Comedy-Travesty-ebook/dp/B00M3F7HTW/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
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