Author | Toby Litt |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | black comedy |
Publisher | Hamish Hamilton |
Publication date | 2001 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
ISBN | 0-241-14070-6 |
OCLC | 46602526 |
823/.914 21 | |
LC Class | PR6062.I827 D43 2001 |
deadkidsongs is a 2001 novel by Toby Litt. The story is a black comedy about friendship, loyalty, love, hate and revenge in the fictional English town of Amplewick, and centers on four main characters: Andrew, Matthew, Paul and Peter, who form "Gang".
deadkidsongs is Litt's fourth novel, published by Hamish Hamilton. John Preston of the Sunday Telegraph called it "the most exciting new British novel I've read this year... extraordinarily haunting".[ citation needed ]
The plot centers on Gang, a gang of four boys who play War, led by "the Best Father". All boys envy Andrew for having such a nice dad, while Paul's father is considered "the worst father", a reputation he was never able to shake off, after having told off Andrew's father for neglecting an accident that involved Matthew falling out of a tree.
However, their revenge on Paul's father has to make way quickly for a much more serious operation. When Matthew dies of meningitis, and Andrew's father mentions the fact that Matthew's grandparents did not take him to the doctor's in time, the three boys decide to take revenge on them, blaming them for the death of their gang member.
Matthew's grandparents, who became substitute parents for him and his sister Miranda, when their parents died in a car crash, are touched by the boys' helpful attitude towards them, and welcome them in their home, not knowing that they're the worst enemy they'll ever know.
By then, Andrew, Paul and Peter have started calling them "the Dinosaurs", and their only goal is to "have them extinct by Christmas". A horrific battle ensues, and while Andrew and Paul start fighting for the leadership of Gang, things get out of control.
Paul Verhoeven is a Dutch film director. His films are known for their graphic violence and sexual content, combined with social satire. After receiving attention for the TV series Floris in his native Netherlands, Verhoeven's breakthrough film was the romantic drama Turkish Delight (1973), starring frequent collaborator Rutger Hauer. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and later received the award for Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival. Verhoeven later directed successful Dutch films including the period drama Keetje Tippel (1975), the war film Soldier of Orange (1977), the teen drama Spetters (1980) and the psychological thriller The Fourth Man (1983).
Kevin Elliot Pollak is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 90 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men, Jacob Goldman in Grumpy Old Men and its sequel Grumpier Old Men; Todd Hockney in The Usual Suspects, Phillip Green in Martin Scorsese's Casino, and Bobby Chicago in End of Days.
Henry Czerny is a Canadian stage, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Boys of St. Vincent, Clear and Present Danger, The Ice Storm, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Fido, Remember, Ready or Not, and Scream VI, in particular for his role as Eugene Kittridge in Mission: Impossible, Dead Reckoning, and Mission: Impossible 8, as well as for numerous television programs in both guest and starring roles, including a regular role as Conrad Grayson on the ABC primetime soap opera Revenge, a loose adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her, thinking she is a man.
I Spit on Your Grave is a 1978 American rape-and-revenge film written and directed by Meir Zarchi. The film tells the story of Jennifer Hills, a fiction writer based in New York City who exacts revenge on her four tormentors who gang rape and leave her for dead.
"Pip" is the fourteenth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 62nd episode of the series overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 29, 2000. Going by production order, it is the fifth episode of the fourth season instead of the fourteenth. The episode is a parody and comedic retelling of Charles Dickens's 1861 novel Great Expectations, and stars the South Park character Pip, who assumes the role of the protagonist of the novel, who is his eponym. "Pip" features no other regular characters from the show. The story is narrated in a live action parody of the anthology television series Masterpiece Theater, with the narrator played by Malcolm McDowell.
Louise Rennison was an English author and comedian who wrote the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series for teenage girls. The series records the exploits of a teenage girl, Georgia Nicolson, and her best friends, the Ace Gang. Her first and second novels, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers were portrayed in a film adaptation called Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. She also wrote a series of books about Georgia's younger cousin, The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey.
Alexander Matthew Wright is an English television presenter and former tabloid journalist. He worked as a journalist for The Sun and was a showbusiness gossip columnist for The Daily Mirror before launching a television career. He hosted the Channel 5 topical debate show The Wright Stuff from 2000 to 2018. Wright occasionally appears on This Morning discussing current affairs.
Charlotte Gray is a 2001 drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong. The screenplay was adapted from Sebastian Faulks' 1999 novel Charlotte Gray. It is set in Vichy France during World War II. The film stars Cate Blanchett, James Fleet, Abigail Cruttenden, Rupert Penry-Jones, Michael Gambon and Billy Crudup.
Stephen James Mangan is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Seán Lincoln in Episodes, Bigwig in Watership Down, Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie, Richard Pitt in Hang Ups, Andrew in Bliss (2018), and Nathan Stern in The Split (2018–2022).
Dead Man's Shoes is a 2004 British psychological thriller revenge tragedy film directed by Shane Meadows and starring Paddy Considine, both of whom co-wrote the film with Paul Fraser. The film also stars Toby Kebbell, Gary Stretch and Stuart Wolfenden.
Barney's Great Adventure is a 1998 musical comedy adventure film based on the children's television series Barney & Friends, featuring Barney the Dinosaur in his first feature-length film. The plot follows Barney, along with three young children named Cody, Abby, and Marcella, as they discover a magical egg in a barn. After learning that the egg is a dream maker, Barney and the gang must return the egg to the barn before it hatches. The film was written by Stephen White, directed by Steve Gomer, produced by Sheryl Leach and Lyrick Studios and released by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment on March 27, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall in New York and worldwide on April 3, 1998, in the United States and Canada at the height of Barney's popularity.
Beatniks: An English Road Movie (1997) is a novel by British author Toby Litt set in Bedford in the United Kingdom in 1995, and concerns the adventures of a group of young people who admire the Beat Writers and Musicians of the 1950s and 1960s America. Initially published by Secker & Warburg in 1997.
Finding Myself is a 2003 novel by Toby Litt. The story is a comedy about friendship, love, hate and society in the English seaside town of Southwold, and centers on the main characters, female writer Victoria About and the friends and relatives she has invited for a month.
Shorts is a 2009 fantasy comedy film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film stars Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jimmy Bennett and Kat Dennings.
Journey into Space is a 2009 British science fiction novel by Toby Litt about people living on a generation ship which is bound for another planet. It was Litt's tenth novel and was published by Penguin Books.
The Casual Vacancy is a 2012 novel written by J. K. Rowling. The book was published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. A paperback edition was released on 23 July 2013. It was Rowling's first publication since the Harry Potter series, her first apart from that series, and her first novel for adult readership.
I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu is a 2019 American rape and revenge horror film written and directed by Meir Zarchi. It stars Camille Keaton and Jamie Bernadette, and is a direct sequel to the 1978 film I Spit on Your Grave.