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Publisher's Summary

Lionel Asbo, a terrifying yet weirdly loyal thug (self-named after England's notorious "Anti-Social Behaviour Order"), has always looked out for his ward and nephew, the orphaned Desmond Pepperdine. He provides him with fatherly career advice (always carry a knife, for example) and is determined they should share the joys of pit bulls (fed with lots of Tabasco sauce), Internet porn, and all manner of more serious criminality. Des, on the other hand, desires nothing more than books to read and a girl to love (and to protect a family secret that could be the death of him).
But just as he begins to lead a gentler, healthier life, his uncle - once again in a London prison - wins £140 million in the lottery, and upon his release, hires a public relations firm and begins dating a cannily ambitious topless model and “poet”. Strangely, however, Lionel's true nature remains uncompromised, while his problems, and therefore also Desmond's, seem only to multiply.
©2012 Martin Amis (P)2012 AudioGO
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Most Helpful
4 out of 5 stars
By Darwin8u on 01-03-13

Jēz...us! Just don't buy it for your Grans.

Amis can write the darkest satire with a lyrical heart that beats with warm, soft blood. 'Lionel ASBO' is sad, funny, gratuitous, sick and full of life. It is like Dickens was written by William Burroughs.

Covered in grit, the characters in this Amis novel seem at first like bizarre 21st century, Cruikshank caricatures that just keep bouncing back and forth in my head between the real, the surreal and the unreal -- so I keep on doubting my own palsied view of the world.

Anywho, this novel seems like a better-adjusted, less disquieting version of Amis' magnum opus 'Money'. Lionel ASBO has more heart, and just slightly less art. Amis traded a little of the floating world . . . for the heavy. Just please Jēz...us don't buy it for Grans.

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15 of 17 people found this review helpful

5 out of 5 stars
By Dalekchap on 11-19-12

A train wreck you cannot look away from...

If you could sum up Lionel Asbo in three words, what would they be?

A distillation of real English people who you would not want to meet.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lionel Asbo?

Who let the dogs in. And we will never know.

Which scene was your favorite?

The first family meeting at the country manor, Wormwood Scrubs.

If you could take any character from Lionel Asbo out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Definitely NOT Lionel Asbo

Any additional comments?

One of the most well written books I have enjoyed. The prose alone is worth the listen - and the story is superb. But if you are an American anglophile you might want to stay away. As a Brit in the US, the 'orrible English characters resonate - albeit disturbingly!

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3 of 3 people found this review helpful

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