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Loading... Obsessionby John Conway
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-RatingAverage:
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The story of Doug is narrated entirely by himself throughout the book. Doug is obsessed with the reality TV programme Voyeur (read Big Brother) and Donna Trayhorn one of it's early evictees. He eventually goes too far in his pursuit of her and gets himself in hot water with the police. At this point, some of the extent of his delusions are revealed to the reader and I begin to feel a little bit sorry for our man. In reality Doug would have been passed over to some form of mental health service here, however this doesn't happen in the book. Doug is socially isolated throughout and seemingly happy that way, he continually rebuffs Matt, a fellow van driver who appears to be offering some kind of friendship to him. Doug lives half the time in a fantasy life as a brave hero saving Donna and defeating his enemies. He also has a delightful habit of stealing pens from people and sees it as a form of revenge or punishment, this is quite funny at times.
Ultimately Doug gets what he wishes for and for a while he seems to stop fantasising although he is in a reality TV setting which of course is somewhat unreal. Very clever stuff by the author here. Seemingly he is taken advantage of by his Voyeur management team but finally he ends up with his one true love and that is all Doug wants.
Initially I did not think I was going to enjoy this book. I thought it was a lad's read, however I changed my mind completely and I really did like it. It was different, quirky and well put together. It's well written and the author is obviously a watcher of reality TV like myself and well versed in the nuances of the show!! It's a book of our time as reality TV viewers. ( )