Facing the Tank (32 page)

‘Gale is intoxicated with words and feeds upon them with a kind of manic relish … The sheer funniness of
Facing the Tank
made me laugh out loud. Its optimism delighted me.’

Sunday Times

‘Patrick Gale writes with great zest. I kept on reading because I was perpetually astonished to find what Mr Gale had thought up next.’

Sunday Telegraph

‘The first thing that catches the attention about Patrick Gale is a sardonic eye, an engagingly leery way of looking at life, or the half-life he has chosen as his base in
Facing the Tank
. It’s as though
Cold Comfort Farm
had called in the interior decorators.’

Guardian

‘Gale has a fondness for his characters and a deep tolerance of their foibles which shines through his writing.
Facing the Tank
is a potent brew … Assured and immensely enjoyable.’

Gay Times

‘Gale has carried off yet another tour de force. The plot ricochets between the dozens of richly drawn characters, and one of the many reasons to devour this novel at one go is that it will make it easier to keep track. Some other reasons are that this book is a delightful read. If E.F. Benson, Iris Murdoch and Fay Weldon were to produce a story in some mad collusion, the result might be something like this.’

Publishers Weekly

‘If you can imagine a cross of
Barchester Towers
and
Rosemary’s Baby
as written by Muriel Spark, you may have some idea of what you’ll be facing with
Facing the Tank
.’

Washington Post