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A Fool's Alphabet | 
| Author: Sebastian Faulks
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £5.99
You Save: £2.00 (25%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 6818
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 009922321X
EAN: 9780099223214
ASIN: 009922321X
Publication Date: January 3, 1998
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Irritating and Tiresome. October 23, 2008
A real disappointment. 26 chapters entitled with a place name from A to Z. Clever but really just a gimic with little relevance. The chapters are not in chronological order. Another unnecessary gimic and really annoying, having to keep trying to remember what happened when. If you are going to read this book, do yourself a favour and read the chapters in time order, except perhaps the last chapter. However, even this is hardly a climax (no pun intended).
It is well written, but there is practically no story. "Birdsong" is one of the best books I have ever read. Sadly, Faulks seems to have lost his way since then.
 26 set pieces November 27, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The 26 chapters of this book are named after places, one for each letter of the alphabet. Moving around in time as well as location, it reads rather like a collection of short stories with a common central character rather than a novel. Rather than being driven by exposition of a plot, each episode is enjoyed as a nicely written set piece.
The writing is good - Faulks has a style which is elegant and descriptive without being overblown. Some chapters are very strong, for instance the description of office life and the chapter set in Jerusalem. Others were less interesting, although I suspect every reader would have a different preference depending on their own experiences.
It isn't really a very memorable book. I enjoyed the experience of reading it whilst I was actually reading the words, but it is not a work that has made any particular emotional impact on me. That's not to say it isn't a good read, but a book with so little long standing impact cannot, in my opinion, be great.
The writing will be particularly enjoyed by those who love language and word play - there is plenty of exploration on the origin of words, for example. I would also recommend it to those who like short stories, and its themes of 'finding yourself' and mental illness will be of interest to those with experience of these issues. Overall, I suppose I feel ambivalently positive towards the book - it wasn't a waste of time to read, but I wouldn't say it was unmissable.
Short and sweet. July 30, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A Fool's Alphabet is essentially a biography of a half-Italian half-English male, called Pietro. I say 'male' because the biography is in no chronological order and instead, small fragments of Pietro's life are uncovered throughout the book therefore giving Pietro no fixed age. Reading the book, I got the distinct impression that I was experiencing fragments of Pietros memories, and the fact that they are in no order really emphasises this feeling.
The book contains lots of different locations including the Middle-East, Asia and America, and of course the UK and Italy. So, if you like travelling, you will probably enjoy this book as a large proportion of it is based around Pietro's travels.
I have read both Birdsong and Charlotte Gray before this, and they are completely different to this. Buy this if you like Faulks; you might turn out to love it, but it really isn't as bad as some people are making out. At worst, it will turn out to be average.
Is that it ?? April 10, 2006
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
I've just finished reading A Fool's Alphabet and feel completely let down. Having read Birdsong, Charlotte Gray and Girl at the Lion d'Or I was expecting a lot more than what I got. There is no plot. There are no interesting characters. Nothing happens. I'm not exaggerating, nothing happens. Reading this book is like being put into the body and mind of a outstandingly average person, and looking back at this person's life. You look hard trying to find something..anything that might either entertain, educate or inform you, something that is missing from your own dull life. But there's nothing, just a dull middle-class guy with the normal fears and hang-ups that everybody has. It's simply not enough for an author to take the reader to different places around the world at different times in the company of an insipid, whining nobody. There has to be some kind of theme, plot, REASON for the reader to continue reading.
I'd recommend this book only to people who had read every book in existence and felt like wasting a few hours.
 The Time Travellers Wife February 2, 2006
4 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book kept me gripped from the first page. The way Niffeneger describes Henry's journey with Clare makes the book all the more interesting. It is not a fairy tale love story and as a result displays the unconventional idea of what a love story is, that it is not about living happy ever after but the time that the people who are in love spend together. Truly a great read!!
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