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The Teleportation Accident

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The Teleportation Accident

By: Ned Beauman
Narrated by: Dudley Hinton
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NED BEAUMAN HAS BEEN NAMED AS ONE OF GRANTA MAGAZINE'S BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2013

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2012 MAN BOOKER PRIZE

AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR

A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR

AN EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEAR

The fantastically inventive, ingenious and hilarious second novel from Ned Beauman, author of the acclaimed and prizewinning BOXER, BEETLE.

HISTORY HAPPENED WHILE YOU WERE HUNGOVER

When you haven't had sex in a long time, it feels like the worst thing
that could ever happen to anyone.

If you're living in Germany in the 1930s, it probably isn't.

But that's no consolation to Egon Loeser, whose carnal misfortunes will push him from the experimental theatres of Berlin to the absinthe bars of Paris to the physics laboratories of Los Angeles, trying all the while to solve two mysteries: whether it was really a deal with Satan that claimed the life of his hero, the great Renaissance stage designer Adriano Lavicini; and why a handsome, clever, charming, modest guy like him can't, just once in a while, get himself laid.

From the author of the acclaimed BOXER, BEETLE comes a historical novel that doesn't know what year it is; a noir novel that turns all the lights on; a romance novel that arrives drunk to dinner; a science fiction novel that can't remember what 'isotope' means; a stunningly inventive, exceptionally funny, dangerously unsteady and (largely) coherent novel about sex, violence, space, time, and how the best way to deal with history is to ignore it.

LET'S HOPE THE PARTY WAS WORTH IT

(P)2012 Hodder & Stoughton©2012 Ned Beauman 20th Century Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Witty Funny Comedy
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Critic reviews

Less than two years after his multi-award-winning debut 'Boxer, Beetle' Ned Beauman returns with another fizzing firework of a caper, featuring as many cracking escapades as its predecessor . . . His prose is wonderfully discursive and buzzes with originality, while scenes of pure farce nod respectfully to Thomas Pynchon and Hunter S Thompson . . . his bold characterisations, slapstick humour, slick similes and tangential subplots are sublime. A strong, smart follow-up that proves Beauman is more than comfortable with the hype he's created for himself.
Terrific . . . if there was ever any worry that he might have crammed all his ideas into his first book, this makes it clear he kept a secret bunker of his best ones aside.
'If you care about contemporary writing, you must read this . . . BOXER, BEETLE was acclaimed as the most inventive fictional debut in years, buzzing with energy and ideas, and Beauman's second novel keeps up the pace'
Funny and startlingly inventive . . . Beauman is a writer of prodigious talent, and there are enough ideas and allusions and comic set pieces in this work, longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, to fill myriad lesser novels.
A glorious, over-the-top production, crackling with inventive wit and seething with pitchy humour . . . A beguiling success . . . Ingenious . . . There is such an easy felicity in Beauman's writing and such a clever, engaging wit . . . that one feels he could write something as much fun every two years. The prospect of which makes me very, very happy indeed.
An extraordinary, Pynchonesque flea-circus of a book...Ned Beauman's pyrotechnical comic novel, his second, is as violently clever as you'd expect from his earlier book, BOXER, BEETLE... [a] frantically entertaining pasteboard extravaganza
This is an unquestionably brilliant novel, ribald and wise in equal measure . . . a witty and sometimes deeply moving fictional exegesis of the Modernist twilight.
I'm sure it's the funniest novel on the list.
He's done it again . . . Beauman does adolescent male lust and anomie with the verve of a young Amis and this is a great romp of a novel, delightful in its inventiveness.
A hoot - very clever and charming, with an awesone range of reference.
Funny, scandalous, decadent and erudite, THE TELEPORTATION ACCIDENT is a hugely enjoyable madness with flavours of Pynchon, Huysmans and Jerome K. Jerome.
Beauman, whose first novel BOXER, BEETLE was widely acclaimed, sets out his stall as a latter-day Evelyn Waugh in this dazzling satire that begins in 1930s Berlin. Biting black comedy.
[Beauman] is blisteringly funny, witty and erudite . . . Beauman manages to combine the intrigue of a thriller with the imagery of a comedy. It makes for an excellent read.
Ned Beauman is a very funny writer, but also a very serious one. His second novel is a glorious rigmarole of satire, insanity, genre tropes and aching romantic pain, but never doubt that it is an essentially serious book.
All stars
Most relevant
I found this book quite hard going at the beginning, It seemed to be about about a pretentious self obsessed idiot who cared for no one, but that of course was the point. Completely blind to everything going on around him, obsessed with a girl who had slept with everyone but him, he sets of on an adventure that gets more and more surreal. Very refreshing and a fun and easy listen. Loved it.

Stick with it, it gets funnier and funnier

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So - it was not that bad - pretty pointless, but I can see that some would like the disconnected storyline and unpleasant characters. I stuck through it because I was trying to work out what the hell it was about. Still not sure - ah well - I listened to it on planes, drains and automobiles so did not waste too much time on it.

The Accident

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Truly an outrageous and relatable masterpiece that should be enjoyed more than once every 30 years

Incredible narrator and a hilarious book

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This is a strange book but quite fun for all its weirdness. The protagonist is a completely unsympathetic character, a sort of idle drifter/stalker who may or may not be a paedophile (after an encounter with a 15 year old in a brothel that is quickly skipped over). He is obsessed with sex although this changes from an annoying trait to an endearing quirk throughout the novel. He is obsessed with a young girl he used to teach and pursues her across the world in a way reminiscent of Eastwood's Every Which Way But Loose without an ape companion. This plot mechanism isn't too painful.

On top of that he is a nasty, selfish, superior sort of person and while you want to see him fail that unfortunately doesn't happen as often as you might like. He does experience character growth somewhat throughout the book. The rest of the book is filled with surreal and exaggerated characters acting in odd and unnatural ways. This is often jarring and odd but I think the author has done that on purpose.

A dive into surrealism

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Manic invention? This is crazed, hysterical, lysergic acid speckled invention. I had thought Venomous Lumpsucker eccentric but this on another plane of existence.

¿Qué?

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