Dennis Rodman

Advantages: Interesting historical horror story.
Disadvantages: Shortish saga. For those that like epics, this may be too short.

..."Coffins" is the first novel of Rodman Philbrick's that I have read although from doing a little research into him it would seem he is quite a prolific American author with many titles published including "Freak the Mighty" which was made into the well known film "The Mighty" starring Sharon Stone and Gillian Anderson. Going back to "Coffins" it's not the sort of book I would have bought myself; indeed I didn't as it was bought as a present from my mother-in-law, who as a non-English speaker is perhaps not in the best position to judge my literary tastes! But that said it's very nice to be able to report that this time she outdid herself and picked out an extremely entertaining book and I would have no hesitation in selecting another Philbrick novel in the future. The story is set in the Northern American States just before... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Beautiful strips from the 40s & onwards!
Disadvantages: Ugly modern front cover. Ouch.

...If you judged this book by it's cover, you'd say it was an awful, third rate, cheapo book based on the antics of Dennis the Menace and his faithful sidekick Gnasher, drawn in the typically poor 21st Century Beano style. That's what I thought. But I was wrong - thankfully. I picked this book up and thumbed through it - to my delight, it was full of strips from the 1940s right through the to the late 80s - the golden age of the Beano! But it isn't just Dennis the Menace strips - there's also other stuff from the Beano, Dandy, Topper, & Beezer. Sure, they're just cheap reprints of old stuff, but the book is enormous - like a telephone directory (well, almost!). I think that the Beano and Dandy have declined terribly since their 50th anniversary issues, way back in the early 90s. The paper is now glossy and horrible - the artwork... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic

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...A member of Wimbledon's infamous "Crazy Gang" whose wild pranks hit the headlines, battles with managers and falsely accused of attacking a taxi driver, Dennis Wise has had an eventful career and personal life. In his autobiography, he documents his "Crazy Gang" days and his ten years at Chelsea. Included are inside stories and Wise's own frank views on key football figures such as Vinnie Jones, Glenn Hoddle, Terry Venables and Paul Gascoigne. He presents a no-holds-barred approach as he talks about his professional and private life. It's a combination which has yielded enormous success and conflict with the authorities both within the game and beyond. In 1995 everything changed with a conviction and prison sentence for assaulting a taxi driver. Wise was released after a few hours on appeal and freely admits that the experience... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful