'I thoroughly enjoyed Splash! It's a delicious confection of excellent plotting, an inventively bonkers cast of characters, subtle insights into the world of newspapers and a satisfying ending which invokes the great Evelyn Waugh's masterpiece, Scoop. A fine comedy of manners by a writer who knows the media inside out' BEL MOONEY
Sam Blunt is a drunken, broken-down tabloid reporter, working for a once-mighty newspaper struggling to come to terms with the digital age.
With the assistance of Benedict, an earnest though clever wet-behind-the-ears young intern on the paper, Sam grapples to uncover the story of the century which reveals the political corruption and cynicism at the heart of a rotten Establishment.
As they try to nail the story amid a series of capers, Sam and Benedict are frustrated by the self-serving proprietor of the Daily Bugle, various self-appointed do-gooders who want to rein in the Press, and Trevor Yapp, the malign and untrustworthy editor of Bugle Online.
Splash! is a satire of the Press and politics in a modern London peopled by a Chinese billionaire would-be press proprietor, a worldly bishop, neglected immigrants, a corrupt and plaintive Prime Minister, and journalists who are often most interested in doing one another down.
Yet however self-serving newspapers may sometimes be, Sam and Benedict are ultimately on the side of the angels as they battle to write their triumphant story.
Title: Splash!: A Novel
Author: Glover, Stephen
ISBN: 9781472126344
Binding:
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Publication Date: 2018-10-04
Number of Pages: 272
Weight: 0.1801 kg
Utterly brilliant and irresistible -- Amol Rajan, former editor of The Independent
I would recommend it to anyone without reservation . . . very funny -- Andrew Rosenheim
A proper novel - something that journalists don't always manage to write. Society hostesses, billionaires, bishops, a newspaper baron, MPs, journalists noble and scurrilous: modern London life is there, fully realised -- Simon Carr
Potentially Splash! could do more for restoring public confidence in newspapers than sanctimonious leader articles from big publishers . . . Splash! might also remind owners and editors [of newspapers] of the public good they can do when at their best -- Ian Burrell * i *
Written in Waugh's style, Splash! imitates his practice of giving characters expressively comic names . . . Glover clearly enjoyed writing it and I enjoyed reading it . . . Glover's novel is an apologia for tabloid journalism and a celebration of its role in exposing corruption among the elite -- Peter Wilby * New Statesman *
Both a terrific romp through the indiscretions, dodgy deals and Establishment stitch-ups of our times, and an invaluable reminder of just how vital the Press is in holding power to account -- John Harding * Daily Mail *
Veteran insider's sharp, timely satire on the newspaper business * Daily Mail *
Splash! has the pace and wit of Tom Sharpe at his Porterhouse best and the mournfulness of Michael Frayn's Towards the End of the Morning . . . captures the thrill of the newsroom -- Laura Freeman * Standpoint *
Thoroughly enjoyable . . . Glover hits the mark with uncanny accuracy . . . A rollicking good read * Journalist *
Extremely funny . . . If there has been a more spot-on and funnier satire about news folk since Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, I haven't read it * Oxford Times *
Splash! is a brilliant book, a comedy with a serious and thought-provoking moral for us all -- Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith * Church Times *
Very funny, also poignant in places, and merits favourable comparison with Evelyn Waugh's classic newspaper novel, Scoop, but this time in the digital age -- Carole Dawson Young * Tribune *
Plot twists aplenty propel this veteran insider's sharp, timely satire on the newspaper business in a corrupt, cynical London swilling with oligarchs * Mail on Sunday *
Funny . . . cleverly plotted, the novel is a love letter to a bygone world of journalism * Sunday Times *
A compelling satire -- Michael Burleigh * London Evening Standard *
I thoroughly enjoyed Splash! It's a delicious confection of excellent plotting, an inventively bonkers cast of characters, subtle insights into the world of newspapers and a satisfying ending which invokes the great Evelyn Waugh's masterpiece, Scoop. A fine comedy of manners by a writer who knows the media inside out * Bel Mooney *
A condition of England novel, and especially the condition of the English press . . . Very enjoyable -- Andrew Gimson * Conservativehome *
The spirit of Scoop, Evelyn Waugh's satirical novel about the newspaper world, hovers over Stephen Glover's satire of 21st-century journalism . . . a pacy story of murky ministerial shenanigans, late lunches and love in the afternoon . . . Those in the know will enjoy identifying the characters in this sprightly roman-a-clef, while everyone can relish the all too convincing twists of Glover's neatly plotted narrative * Daily Mail *
