A-Z Day 23

Copyright ©2015 Mark Kelly.

W is for Wilt.


I discovered Tom Sharpe's ' Wilt ' series at the tender age of 19, and could not stop reading. From there I progressed on to other of Tom Sharpe's works and now eleven of his books sit proudly in my book collection. In particular I found 'The Wilt Alternative' exceptionally funny, and is still one of my favourite of the Wilt series.




Something else that I loved about Sharpe's books were the covers. Drawn by cartoonist Paul Sample. Colourful and artful, these covers whetted your appetite even before the first page was turned and really helped to set the mood for the book.

The double cover for my good friend, Jeremy - the book price gives away its age.

Wilt is a middle-aged college lecturer, much disgruntled with his lot in life, with a wife who is larger than life, both physically and
verbally. Then there are his quadruplet daughters who enjoy nothing more than to make their father's life a living hell. Wilt has a knack for courting trouble and getting himself into debacles of comedy that you cannot help but laugh and sympathise with him all at once, with the odd wince thrown in for good measure.

I particularly recall the rose bush episode in 'The Wilt Alternative' to be especially eye-wateringly funny. But be warned, Wilt has a foul mouth, so if offended easily by bad language, maybe Tom Sharpe's books are not for you. But if you enjoy irreverent humour and have yet to read any of these works by the above author, then read one. Really.