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The Dead Fathers Club: Matt Haig

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One of the greatest challenges a writer faces is sustaining a narrative voice that differs from his or her own natural mode of expression. How were you able to think your way so successfully into the mind and diction of an eleven-year-old boy? Lots of swearing, the "F" word repeatedly. Even uses the ultimate taboo "C" word about four times. Other less offensive baddies here too. Nothing I would want my kids to hear. This is an amazing and imaginative update of Hamlet . . . Haig does a fabulous job of exploring the psyche of an eleven-year-old boy. He takes serious situations and makes them come across with humor and a full range of other emotions. The Dead Fathers Club is a refreshing and modern tale of grief and revenge – and also a definite must-read. Curled Up.com

Leah Fairview– The former girlfriend of Phillip is sister to Dane Fairview. Her mother died when Leah was young and her father is accidentally murdered by Phillip. At the end of the novel, Phillip saves her from committing suicide In The Dead Fathers Club, you have chosen to re-imagine not merely a classic but arguably the classic work of English literature. Where does one get the daring to wrestle with a giant, and how did you go about making Shakespeare’s story into your own? It’s a playful manhandling of Hamlet, and it works: The more you read, the more captivating it becomes. Philip is funny, vulnerable and resolute as he tries to shake off his grief and save his beloved dad from the Terrors and his mom from Uncle Alan. We suspect the Bard would be pleased. Anne Stephensen, The Arizona Republic A. I think it is. He clearly can’t come to terms with the sudden absence of his father so he ends up over-compensating through the creation of a world that only he can see. Grief’s a bit like that, isn’t it? It’s like the ‘phantom limb’ amputees feel. Your mind takes a while to get used to a devastating new reality. Cleverly constructed narrative convinces the reader that this is a young child relating, explaining and describing both major and trivial incidents in his life. If you enjoyed The Sixth Sense you’ll find this book compulsive reading. It offers some pertinent observations about the human condition . . . be prepared for a highly dramatic conclusion.Q. The Dead Fathers Club made me think of the psychiatrist R.D. Laing, who argued that when people seem to be ‘mad,’ they’re just articulating underlying worries and anxieties that they are prevented, by circumstance or convention, from articulating normally. Would you agree that Philip’s madness (like Hamlet’s) is a kind of coping mechanism? Matt Haig’s extraordinary second novel pushes and pulls at Shakespeare’s play, pokes and prods at it in such a way that only half the fun is to be found in spotting the parallels. The story is so surprising and strange that it vaults into a realm all of its own . . . most of all it allows Haig to indulge his innocently acute eye for detail and his delightfully weird imagination. One’s heart goes out to a boy torn between a selfish ghost (“If you ever loved me . . . “) and a foolish mother, and one naturally fears for him, knowing the fate of the first Hamlet. But Haig borrows from Shakespeare in the same spirit that Shakespeare borrowed from his own sources. One is never sure where the story is going next, and that’s what makes the book such sad fun. Gerard Woodward, The Guardian

This is the story of Phillip, an eleven-year-old boy whose father has just died in a car crash. Soon after, his Uncle Allan starts getting too close to Phillip's mother, just when Phillip's father's ghost starts appearing before him, telling him he must kill his uncle, as he was the one who killed him. Enlivening this remarkable novel from start to finish is the narrative voice of Philip himself. Lonely, misunderstood, but thoughtful beyond his years, Philip struggles to express his complex fears of both life and death in the journal that his school counselor encourages him to keep. As Matt Haig leads us to question the motives of Philip’s family and friends, as well as the true nature of Philip’s father’s ghost, he gradually evolves a brilliant contradictory portrait of his central character. Is he precociously philosophical or pathetically mad? Is he a foolish boy, or a fount of strange forbidden wisdom? Must he follow Hamlet’s destiny to the bitter end, or will he summon the courage to regain control of his fate? Not until the shattering conclusion do the deep mysteries of the story become clear. I really really wanted to like this book. It had so many brilliant things going for it: a great voice, hilarious scenes, interesting premise, great characters, great descriptions, witty turns of phrase and all that jazz. Matt Haig is a writer for children and adults who is adept at digging into the human heart.”― Sunday Times (London) Even though, as the author, you possess the ultimate power to “change the story,” you have chosen to give your novel an ending that many readers may not feel is an optimistic one. How did you come to this particular ending for the book?The Shakespearean roots of Haig’s book don’t force the plot into preordained directions. No characters are wasted; Leah, the Ophelia to Phillip’s Hamlet, emerges as a mysterious but moving force. One of the joys (for those familiar with Hamlet) is figuring out at what points Haig’s work diverges. Phillip is an unreliable narrator, but it isn’t until close to the ending that you begin to wonder just how unreliable. Maybe Uncle Alan isn’t such a bad guy … Haig does a great job of assuming the voice of an 11-year-old. The advantage of writing through a child’s eyes is that the events play themselves out in a less self-conscious way than, say, an account of adult grief. Through Phillip, and the struggles Phillip has with his father’s ghost, we see the cruelty of death, the desire to make sense out of an nonsensical event. “The Dead Fathers Club” is full of funny moments, but the ending reveals the dark heart of Hamlet’s story. Reyhan Harmanci, San Francisco Chronicle I found this book in the kids section of the library. It is about a 11 year old boy, so it stands to reason. Here are the things I found in the book: *SPOILERS*

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