"Totally brilliant. . . . Wondrously articulate. . . . A
Spot of Bother serves as a fine example of why novels
exist. . . . Haddon is an unmagic realist, a guy who finds enough
pathos and humor in the everyday to fashion stories that transport,
entertain and keep you reading past your bedtime."-The New York
Times Book Review
"A Spot of Bother is a crisp, light, effortless
read, a sympathetic and sometimes very funny social comedy that,
for the most part, perfectly skewers its hapless protagonists and
their hopeless pretensions. . . . Like Nick Hornby, too, [Haddon]
can bring to everyday life a pleasing solidity and veracity, and he
can also place a character with a single, deft phrase." -Sunday
Times (UK)
"Kind in spirit and empathetic to its characters' assorted
plights." -The New York Times
"Haddon elevates the novel with keen intuition into human
behaviour, subtly instructing his readers to appreciate their
lives, no matter how superficially boring they may seem." -
Calgary Herald
"Haddon provides plenty of neat turns of phrase and sharp
observations." -National Post
"A Spot of Bother meets and exceeds expectations.
. . . It's an unfair comparison, but it may help to suggest it's a
little like a British version of Jonathan Franzen's The
Corrections, only one that feels much more like a dark sitcom.
It's a fresh, breezy, inviting look at family dysfunction." -
The Vancouver Sun
"Haddon's fans can attest that this ability to see things from
other people's points of view is precisely his strength. . . . Once
again, Haddon demonstrates his ability to crawl into his
characters' skins." - The Gazette (Montreal)
"A very funny book. . . .The build-up to the climax is expertly
done, and that climax is a near-masterwork of slapstick comedy. . .
. He also does a great job of detailing the flotsam of ordinary
lives without descending into arch, literary anthropology. Not a
single character is held at a distance." - Toronto
Star
"Haddon has a gift for conveying the illogical responses people
have when things don't go according to plan." -Winnipeg Free
Press
"[A] delightfully touching tour de farce. . . . Haddon finds magic
in the details and, as with Dog, makes the routine
minutiae of day-to-day life appealing and often hilarious. . . .
The observations are so astute, so gently funny, so touching, that
you get caught up in the fate of the well-meaning, if slightly
imprudent, Hall family." - USA Today
"Haddon writes about the grisly minutiae of family life with the
beady observation and ear for domestic surrealism of a younger Alan
Bennett . . . he has a fascinated affection for the strangeness of
suburban life, which he records with a humanity that eschews
caricature and allows every character a measure of dignity amid the
profoundest indignity. . . . A Spot of Bother is a
painful, funny, humane novel; beautifully written, addictively
readable and so confident." - The Times
"The novel succeeds brilliantly . . . in its uncommon,
unpretentious willingness to capture the intricacies of
communication between children, parents and lovers, without
resorting to easy cynicism, following complex everyday family
dramas through to provisionally happy resolutions. Haddon is
particularly skilled at showcasing the silences, misunderstandings
and missed opportunities that spring from parents and children
speaking at cross-purposes." - The Globe and Mail
"Style is everything in the farce game and, happily, Haddon brings
much of that to the table, with a dry yet acerbic wit. . . .
A Spot of Bother, so different from Haddon's
name-making novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time, is a bit of jolly good fun." - New York Daily
News
"A Spot of Bother is such a pleasure to read - it is
funny, wry, and well-paced - that it is only later that you realize
what a thoughtful novel it is. . . . Satisfying and emotionally
rich." - Powell's Books, "Review-a-Day"
"This is a masterful novel in which Haddon has surpassed his
previous achievement. He pulls off the extraordinary trick of being
simultaneously riotously funny, profoundly insightful, and deeply
poignant. . . . Haddon has written beautifully about the messiness
of life with a poise and grit that few novelists truly possess.
Fans of Curious Incident can rest assured that they won't
be disappointed." - The Scotsman
"Haddon's style is a reader's bliss. He writes seamless prose. The
words are melted into meaning. . . . Haddon's gift is to make us
look at ourselves when we think we're looking away, being
entertained. . . . A Spot of Bother is perfect medicine."
- The Scotsman
"Very funny and deeply painful." - The Independent
"Nothing short of brilliant…. Haddon has filled 390 pages
with sharp and witty observations about family and daily life…. A
superb novel." - The Independent
"No bother at all, this comic follow-up to Haddon's blockbuster
(and a best-selling book of poems) is great fun." - Publishers
Weekly
"The writing is fresh, funny and wise. [Haddon's] dry, nimble
style is pitch perfect, capturing the hectic anxieties of a family
constantly teetering on the edge between respectability and
humiliation." - New York Observer
"Haddon persuades us to join George in not knowing who is out of
touch with reality and who isn't, and to feel the balance tilt
alarmingly as the events rush by. It is an appealingly disorienting
experience . . . a work of art. . . . A Spot of Bother is
witty as well as funny." TLS
"Entertaining. Haddon has all the ingredients for a classic, sappy
tale of family dysfunction, but his sharp humour, ear for the
absurd and refusal to pigeonhole his characters makes his story
anything but predictable." - Edmonton Journal
"If anyone can make mental illness entertaining, it's Mark Haddon.
. . . A darkly funny take on a family all to ordinary but
fascinating in their emotional complexity." - Toronto Sun