Ostrich Country - by David Nobbs (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

' " A change of environment will bring you new business and personal interests," said Cousin Percy. Pegasus was glad to hear this.' Whether Pegasus Baines would have been so glad had he foreseen the outcome of his hasty decision to abandon the career of potential Nobel-prize winning nutrition scientist in favour of that world famous chef is less certain. The change of environment from North London with its deafening traffic to East Anglia with its menacing power stations brings new nightmares and new problems into his life.

The 'ostrich country' of David Nobbs' novel lies somewhere between modern Britain and cloud cuckoo-land. Pegasus Baines is an innocent idealist, a self-deceiver. The tale of his tangles which gradually involve mistresses old and new, long-suffering family and several more-or-less innocent bystanders, modulates from honours melancholy to hilarious farce.

Review Quotes

Praise for David Nobbs's novels:

'Painfully hilarious, wonderfully observed and slight sour at the same time' Guardian

'Thank goodness for David Nobbs! He carries on the comic tradition of P G Wodehouse with this marvellous new book; a sweet and touching love story written with his trademark sly and subversive humour. A perfect antidote to these dark times' Joanne Harris

'Probably our finest post-war comic novelist' Jonathan Coe

'A delicious entertainment, as comic and sharp as they come' Guardian

'A marvellously comic novel' Sunday Times

'One of the most noisily funny books I have ever read' Michael Palin

'Very funny sketches of provincial newspaper life' Sue Townsend

'The most satisfying novel I have read in years' Express

About the Author

David Nobbs's first break as a comedy writer came on the iconic satire show That Was The Week, That Was, hosted by David Frost. Later he wrote for The Frost Report and The Two Ronnies and provided material for many top comedians including Les Dawson, Ken Dodd, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd and Dick Emery. Apart from his twenty novels, David is best known for his two TV hit series A Bit of a Do and for The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. David Nobbs died in 2015 at the age of eighty.