Humour Books > Tom Sharpe Humour Books

Advantages: Very funny and ironic
Disadvantages: Helps to have a rough idea of apartheid South Africa

Riotous Assembly is one of the first books written by Tom Sharpe, published in 1971 after his return from living in South Africa. Set during that period of brutal apartheid, the story centres on the South African police force stationed in the fictitious town of Piemberg. Kommandant Van Heerden is a career policeman who has risen through the ranks to his present position. He is a keen enforcer of South African law and order and, as chief of Piemburg’s ...
...the night, I was that unable to put it down. The sequel to this book, Indecent Exposure, is far more hilarious but Riotous Assembly is a must for first time readers of Tom Sharpe. If you do come across Indecent Exposure you do need to read Riotous Assembly first. ... Read review

Advantages: Addictive, makes you laugh, easy but intelligent content
Disadvantages: Nothing important

...in an afternoon Henry Wilt feels unhappy and resigning to his life. He teaches arts-related subjects to unsensitive people who won't find anything helpful because they are preparing to work in factories as butchers, electricians, etc. He keeps working for more than ten years in same situation, but never gets promoted. In this time, roles will be changing: only Henry will turn into someone tougher, instead of just the opposite to their pupils as ...
...life isn't much better. Currently, he's married with a fat woman to whom dislikes. Despite the fact that they are living together for twelve years, they haven't got any children. Someone without personality to change his fate, tired of his job, his wife, and having no ilussion to fight with - like a father did have with his children - finishes hiding into his fantasies without any limits. When he took his daily walk with his dog, he often thought ... Read review

Advantages: Hilarious Black comedy, right up there with the best of Sharpe
Disadvantages: Had to put it down and go to work

...when he finds out that the spoon has been pawned. He is accepted with open arms as a Lloyds name and is only brought to heel when he is asked to repay some major sums to that august body. In true Tom Sharpe style there follows a drug fuelled motorbike ride through unfamiliar countryside, ending up in bed with the wrong woman, in the kind of implausible yet highly credible kind of story line that only Tom Sharpe can pull off. As with any book review ...
...I have read all of the Tom Sharpe books. A few, such as Porterhouse Blue, Wilt and Blott on the Landscape have made it onto the small screen, to great acclaim, and including such stars as Griff Reese Jones, David Suchet and Geraldine James. it is a shame that more can't be filmed but the content may not sit well with a family audience. In my experience, the book is always better than a film or TV adaptation so five yourself a treat and read The Midden, ... Read review

Advantages: One of the funniest books I have ever read
Disadvantages: Could cause offence, need to read the prequel first

Indecent Exposure, written by Tom Sharpe and published in 1972, is the sequel to his previous work, Riotous Assembly (see reviews written by myself and others). Set in the fictitious South African town of Piemburg it once again bases itself on the local police station. The hapless station Kommandant, Van Heerden, though keen to uphold the Afrikaner notion of law and order in apartheid South Africa holds a fascination for all things English. Under ...
...absurd humour and silly plots that will have you fighting for breath from laughter look no further. The only note of caution I would make is that it would be advisable to read Riotous Assembly first. Indecent Exposure, however, is possibly the funniest book I have ever read. ... Read review

Advantages: Good in parts
Disadvantages: He's written better

I read that Tom Sharpe is considered to be 'a truly English humorist'. The lampooning of the Establishment and middle and upper-class figures of authority, endears him to those who would love to take a pot shot at the puffed up ladies and gentlemen who don the crown of self-importance. When the crown slips and they lose their way, Sharpe is just the man to point them back in our direction for a delightful lambasting. The worst amongst them are fair ...
...known for his farcical and highly unlikely tales, usually set in educational establishments, most notably public schools. He was educated at Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge and was eventually a lecturer in History at the Cambridge College of Arts & Technology. So, one could guess where he gets a lot of his ideas from. My favourite of Sharpe's books was Porterhouse Blue (serialised for TV a few years ago and starred David Jason), and ... Read review