The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts - Louis de Bernieres

I appear to be reading backwards at the moment. No, I don’t mean I’ve developed weird reading habits, rather that I’m in the process of becoming enamoured by the works of certain authors I’ve recently discovered for myself. I first discovered Louis de Bernieres with his short novel “Red Dog” in 2004 and went on to read the excellent “Birds Without Wings”, which I reviewed last year. One of my Xmas presents was his first book “ The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts” first printed in 1990. My own copy is the 1998 copy printed by Vintage. I read this as a stand-alone book although I’m aware that there is two follow up books yet to read. Louis de Berniernes is ...  Read the complete review

To anyone who has read Captain Corelli's Mandolin, the style of Louis de Berniers will be instantly recognisable. An infinitely funny story interspersed with amusing, frightening and sometimes horrifying side stories and anecdotes. In this book (and two further books "The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman" and "Senor Viva and the Coca Lord") de Bernieres creates an imaginary South American country controlled by Coca barons and peopled with a self centred President married to a former stripper, a corrupt government, an ethereal Indian with magical powers who talks with his dead daughter, a resurrected spanish conquistador and a ...  Read the complete review

I read Captain Correlli's Mandolin several months ago and thought it the best book I have ever read so I decided to buy Louis De'Bernieres first novel 'The war of Don Emmanuels nether parts'. De'Berniere writes in such a way as to capture his readers like a fly in a spiders web, his books are funny, breathtaking, horrific and captivating and I feel fortunate to have found them. Whereas Captain Correlli took about 100 pages to get into, Don Emmanuel captured me from the first page. It is a strange old story following several different groups of characters through a turbulent time in the history of De'Berniere's wonderfully ...  Read the complete review