Zoo Time

Written by Howard Jacobson

Narrated by Simon Shatzberger

New York Times best-selling author Howard Jacobson cemented his sterling literary reputation by winning the prestigious Man Booker Prize. In Zoo Time, Jacobson delivers the shrewdly observed and highly comedic story of one man, two women, and an interesting (to say the least) marital dynamic. When novelist Guy Ableman marries the alluring Vanessa, her equally alluring mother Poppy comes with the package. In a veritable tizzy, Guy considers a bold path- one that might just spark his greatest novel yet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781470323943

Howard Jacobson

Howard Jacobson

Reviews for Zoo Time

[icolford · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Novelist Guy Ableman's life and career are in crisis. Between books, aware that he has lost much of his traditional readership, and casting around for new subject matter that will make him relevant again, he is awakening rather rudely into the cultural reality of the 21st century. Reading is in decline and poorly written books that pander to popular taste are being hailed as masterpieces and held up as exemplars of the kind he should be striving for. The industry, it seems, has been invaded by shallow 20-something philistines prepared to wield their considerable economic clout to get what they want. In despair his publisher has committed suicide, and his agent is knuckling under to the pressures of a competitive marketplace where everyone is desperately trying to sniff out the next big thing. Guy is married to Vanessa, a beautiful, stately, tempermental redhead. Their relationship is fiery and volatile, its flames fed by Guy's wayward libido and Vanessa's conviction that it is she, not her husband, who is the real writer in the family (though she has not written anything beyond an opening sentence of a novel). Normally an inspiring if maddening stimulant to Guy's creative juices, Vanessa cannot help Guy out of his current crisis because Guy is lusting after (gasp!) his mother-in-law, Poppy, another beautiful stately redhead. Howard Jacobson's novel Zoo Time follows the adventures of Guy Ableman, novelist and husband, as he tries to salvage his career while steering a course through the minefield of his personal life and negotiating a cultural wasteland that neither values nor respects serious writers. Much of the narrative is an acerbic rant against the declining standards of the mass-market world of publishing and the shrinking audience that genuine literary artists face. But Jacobson, a sly and witty writer who recalls Philip Roth at his most irreverent and outrageous, manages to fill Guy's story with enough memorable comic moments and quotable one-line zingers to counter suspicions that we are reading the equivalent of a literary temper tantrum. The novel loses some steam toward the end (when a debate regarding Jewish-ness is given more space than necessary and Guy switches gears and cynically uses the market to his advantage), but until then is thoroughly entertaining and often howlingly funny. The bitterness of a once successful writer who in a shifting cultural landscape must struggle to make his voice heard is hard to ignore, but Howard Jacobson provides enough laughs that we almost forget that bitterness is at the heart of this tale.

[micalhut · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Howard Jacobson writes a novel about a writer who is writing a book about a writer in current day London. The protagonist in both books is utterly unlikable in every aspect except that he makes acute, hilarious and smack-dab smart observations about reading/readers, literature, art and the publishing world. He also hilariously hits nearly every single single self-absorbed narcissistic thought that every writer/artist has ever had about himself/herself and their craft, but wishes they hadn't, which makes reading it sometimes painful. Jacobson hilariously dives into the shadow of living as a writer. Not liking someone has never been so thought-provoking and laugh-out-loud funny. The ending is tremendously surprising and hopefully without adding a spoiler, the protagonist seems to (possibly) be growing as a feeling and ethical human being, or at least is considering it. It's dirty. Some say for the sake of being dirty, I say, it's essential to what he's trying to accomplish in exposing the underbelly of being an artist, because most art is highly self-absorbed, and his protagonist's literary heroes were overtly sexual males as well. It is splendidly twisted.

[mausergem_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my first book by Howard Jacobson. The book is written in the first person by a writer of novels (not unlike the Howard Jacobson), who has had moderate success writing satirical novels. The novel follows his journey trying to find and new inspirations for a new novel. He tries to write about a husband, wife and mother-in-law love triangle but discards it. He then tries to write about a rich playboy with brain tumor but ends with discarding it. He finally writes about a mother daughter duo who are bound together by the love of a mentally retarded brother.The novel is full of moody wife, sexy mother-in-law, neurotic agent, bi-sexual brother, dementic parents and suicidal publishers. It's funny if you like that kind of funny.

[polarbear123_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jacobson delivers again with a fun romp around Cheshire and London poking fun at the literary world and modern living in general. Misogynistic? Perhaps, hilarious? Definitely.

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I chose to read this because I had just finished a very intense novel and needed something light and/or funny for a change of pace.

This book is amusing at times, thoughtful at times, and narcissistic throughout. The story reminded me of what happens when you stand between two mirrors facing each other; your reflection inside itself into infinity. I understand that the narcissism of the main character was the vehicle for most of the humor. It just became very repetitive.

I will definitely give this author another try in the hope of finding something that I get.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

 Maybe this was just me, but I didn't find anything in this book terribly engaging. It's a book about an author and the apparent dichotomy of there being many authors and fewer people actually reading anything. He can't bear the thought of his non-existent readers not reading his next big book, so this book is spent mostly following him trying to come up with a story. He gets a bit obsessed about his wife's mother - who sounds a bit like mutton dressed as lamb, she dresses and looks more like a sister than a mother. And it's all a bit crude, pretentious, repetitive and the fictional hero/antihero deserves a good slap for being a complete self centered arse. No, I didn't like him, them, the book, the language (too many f**k & c**ts littered about for my taste - having been brought up to believe an expletive is what you use when you can't express yourself properly in the English language) or anything about it. Why I listened to the entire thing, I'm not sure - I suppose I expected it to get better... Disappointing.