The Laying On of Hands: Stories
by Alan Bennett
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""The Laying On of Hands" is Bennett at his best in this funny and mischievous satire about a society memorial service for a rather special masseur, who has died at a tragically young age in Peru." "In "Father! Father! Burning Bright" Bennett writes with tragicomic insight about a son's vigil at his father's deathbed, where their lifelong battle continues to the end. With his pared-down and deceptively simple prose style, Bennett unflinchingly describes the random thoughts and haphazard show more conversations of the family members waiting in the hospital as they face life and death." "In "Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet" a podiatrist shows a lonely, unmarried department store clerk that there's more to life than looking after her brother. Part of the award-winning and critically acclaimed Talking Heads series, "Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet" was described in the New York Times as both "touching" and "hilarious.""--BOOK JACKET. show lessTags
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Clarification - 4.5 stars.
Basically I loved it, but the last story didn't connect with me so well.
The Laying On of Hands - This was amusing. The pendulum of emotions. And the fractured perception of everyone we meet; no one sees us fully, just bits and pieces. The ending cracked me up. Talk about irony at its finest!
Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet - This was good too. And the reader knows what's going on much sooner than the lady in question. More like a character study. Lovely.
Father! Father! Burning Bright - This I didn't connect with too well. It felt a little disjointed (understandable, I suppose, if one accounts for the state of mind). But it was still interesting.
I should probably warn that nothing much is actually going on.
Overall - show more TRY IT! show less
Basically I loved it, but the last story didn't connect with me so well.
The Laying On of Hands - This was amusing. The pendulum of emotions. And the fractured perception of everyone we meet; no one sees us fully, just bits and pieces. The ending cracked me up. Talk about irony at its finest!
Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet - This was good too. And the reader knows what's going on much sooner than the lady in question. More like a character study. Lovely.
Father! Father! Burning Bright - This I didn't connect with too well. It felt a little disjointed (understandable, I suppose, if one accounts for the state of mind). But it was still interesting.
I should probably warn that nothing much is actually going on.
Overall - show more TRY IT! show less
I was very pleased with this collection of short stories. Alan Bennett is a delightful and thoughtful writer who pushes the limits of cultural comfort levels with his writing. Although I wasn't quite as enamored with these stories as I have been in the past with "History Boys" and "The Uncommon Reader," I was far from disappointed. If you are already a Bennett fan in search of new material I highly recommend picking this up. If you are new to Bennett and looking for an introduction to his work I highly recommend putting this one on your shelf... but read it *after* "The Uncommon Reader."
Although I rarely read short stories, I enjoyed these three quite a bit. Mostly I love the British sense of humor, and the author's skill at showing the human foibles of his characters.
very good collection. stories start and just go on. the nurses were very funny.
nytimes notable
nytimes notable
Very, very funny!!!!
Recommended read!
Recommended read!
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Author Information
Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He decided to apply for a scholarship at Oxford University. He was accepted by Exeter College, Oxford from which he graduated with a first-class degree in history. He was born on May 9, 1934; he is an English author, actor, humorist and playwright. Bennett was made an Honorary Fellow of Exeter show more College, Oxford in 1987. He was also awarded a D.Litt by the University of Leeds in 1990 and an Hon. PhD from Kingston in 1996. In October 2008 Bennett announced that he was donating his entire archive of working papers, unpublished manuscripts, diaries and books to the Bodleian Library free of charge, as a gesture of thanks and repaying a debt he felt he owed to the UK's social welfare system that had given him educational opportunities which his humble family background would otherwise never have afforded. In 2015 his title, Six Poets: Hardy to Larkin: An Anthology by Alan Bennett, made The New Zealand Best Seller List. He also made the list in 2016 with his title The Lady in the Van. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Wagenbach SALTO (132)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Laying On of Hands: Stories
- Original title
- The laying on of hands
- First words
- Seated obscurely towards the back of the church and on a side aisle, Treacher was conscious nevertheless of being much looked at.
- Quotations
- Because, however upbeat a priest manages to be (and indeed his creed requires him to be), it's hard not to feel that cheerful though the memorial service can be, the actual interment does tend to be a bit of a downer.
Had it come from America, he wondered. Or Liverpool? Was television to blame? Or Mrs Thatcher? - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)There was a click, then another and the turning of a wheel and faintly, as if from a great way off, Geoffrey heard the cogs begin to grind as the clock gathered itself up and struck the hour.
- Disambiguation notice
- This Work is a collection, not the individual novella; its contents are listed in the Book description field below. Absent having a copy of either in hand, it's unclear which edition(s) or Works may relate to any other CK on... (show all) this page. Please distinguish between the collection and the novella. Thank you.
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- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.72)
- Languages
- English, German, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 1
