In the Kingdom of Air - Hardcover

Binding, Tim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039303609X ISBN 13: 9780393036091

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1994

Synopsis

Years after her haunting disappearance from her suburban town, Stella Muchmore reappears and profoundly alters the life of BBC weatherman Giles Doughty, a middle-aged sexual gamesman

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Reviews

"Recently I have discovered that I am attractive to women," confides BBC weatherman and self-appointed raconteur Giles Doughty in the opening words of this funny, poignant first novel. He then sets out to prove it by recounting his three current affairs: with the head of an employment agency, a children's television star and an unnamed "Woman from Spain." The woman who occupies his mind most, though, is his high school sweetheart Stella Muchmore, who vanished the year he was 16. When Giles's sister spots Stella in a London bar, he's forced to relive the events that led to her disappearance. Much of the text consists of a charming, ongoing conversation between the narrator and his younger self; we soon see that Giles is a much more pathetic character than he would care to admit, but the author treats him with respect and evident affection. Despite the recurrent, rather dull use of four-letter words, Binding's language often makes poetic and delightful swoops. This is a solid, entertaining first effort.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Binding's first novel accomplishes something quite impressive: an egotistical, rather detestable lead character undergoes a transformation and is redeemed. Giles Doughty remains unfortunately unlikable for the greater portion of the book (he announces he's a cad on page one, but his innocent love for his little niece is devised to make him sympathetic). Giles is a middle-aged weatherman for the BBC, and much of the story's metaphoric situations involve weather, in particular a terrific thunderstorm that severely injures Giles' sister, Carol, while she is searching for their long-lost neighbor, Stella. Giles feels obligated to take up the search, in the process reminiscing about his cherished adolescence when he and Stella would adventure out into the streets of their suburban town naked. The entire second section of the novel is Giles' remembrances of youth, complete with the appearance of "Giles as a boy" to advise the adult Giles; this device works only sporadically. Some humor arises from the flashback section, and Giles eventually gets what he deserves in a thorough thrashing from one of his lovers' suitors. If the reader can wade through Giles' pretensions and self-absorption, the ending is crackling good fun. Joe Collins

Giles Doughty, a BBC weatherman, is the narrator and central character in this first novel by former editor and publisher Binding. Middle-aged Giles seemingly suffers from an advanced case of priapism, since he's carrying on sexual liaisons with three women as the novel begins. EventuallyGiles's narration of his sexcapades gives way to the search for a mysterious woman, Stella Muchmore, who had disappeared from Giles's village when he was growing up. As the story unfolds, the reader comes to understand the effect of events during Giles's adolescence upon his adult years. This part of the novel works, but because Giles is such an unendearing character in the early stages, few readers may persist far enough to get to the real meat of the book. In addition, Binding's dense writing and stream-of-consciousness style (in which Giles can go on for pages without a paragraph break) make the book a bit difficult to read. Recommended only for literary fiction collections.
- Dean James, Houston Acad. of Medicine/Texas Medical Ctr. Lib.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 039303609X
• ISBN 13: 9780393036091
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 374