BookBrowse Reviews The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

More literary silliness from the author of The Eyre Affair

Fforde's latest book leaves the reviewers at Kirkus and Publishers Weekly distinctly unmoved, while both agree that the concept is clever, the former describes it as 'shallow and snarky' and the latter writes it off as 'not compelling in the least'. Over in England the reaction is more positive with the Guardian newspaper reviewer saying, 'I love it. The Big Over Easy is great not just because it's very funny (albeit with some excruciating puns) but also because it works properly as a whodunit. ....Comic genius'. The Big Over Easy went down pretty well with my husband, Paul, who could be found happily cackling to himself for a couple of nights. However, at the end of the day it is sadly a shadow of the Thursday Next series. Paul's currently reading The Fourth Bear, the second in the series which is due out in August and says there are some good, easy laughs to be had, but sadly the jokes are wearing pretty thin. So, the long and the short of it is that if you've enjoyed the Thursday Next series and appreciate a little bit of 'silliness' then this might be for you, but if literary slapstick isn't your cup of tea, you should probably steer clear!

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in July 2005, and has been updated for the July 2006 edition. Click here to go to this issue.