Will wiles care of wooden floors book club

A bold and brilliant debut from a darkly funny new voice. He was deputy editor of icon, a leading british design magazine, and his writing has appeared in cabinet, new statesman, and other publications. What i enjoy the most about wiles work is his writing style and humour this was a clear highlight with his second novel, the way inn, and it certainly didnt disappoint here. While walking into a strip club, the narrator observes under the spotlight was a stage. Will wiles debut novel finds our unnamed narrator arriving in an unnamed eastern european city to housesit for. If your floors see a lot of foot traffic, food spills, or pet mischief, have the surface sanded every 7 to 10 years or whenever you notice worn areas, loss of stain color, or gouges.

Care of wooden floors, by will wiles the independent subscribe now. Care of wooden floors indicates that wiles has an eye for beauty, but an even more impressive eye for ugliness. Lee rourke, author of the canal the novels strength lies in wiless wry depiction of the battle between chaos and order. Will wiles is an architecture and design journalist and was formerly deputy editor of icon magazine. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading care of wooden floors. Will wiles debut novel finds our unnamed narrator arriving in an unnamed eastern european city to housesit for his friend oskar, a talented composer and serious neat freak whom the narrator befriended or was befriended by during their days at university in england. His first novel, care of wooden floors, was a waterstones pick and. His once happy marriage to beth all but disintegrated. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel.

A nicely turned satire on the notion that the path to spiritual contentment lies in a pristine set of polished wooden floorboards. Care of wooden floors is a series of catastrophes and disasters from start to finish. Care of wooden floors by bill wiles great pick for 2020. Wiles debut novel, care of wooden floors, is laughoutloud, tearmaking, hysterically funny. Will wiles is the author of the novel care of wooden floors and is an architecture and design journalist in great britain. Will wiles housesitting at the ultramodern apartment of a composer friend in a glum eastern european city, a british copywriter accidentally spills wine on the apartments priceless wooden floor and endures a. Im proud to be part of an unreliable guide to london, a forthcoming anthology by the good people at influx press. He is the author of three acclaimed novels, care of wooden floors, the way inn and. It turns out a novel about trying to keep a floor clean can be edgeofyourseat compelling. Read about previous instalments of the malign interiors book club here.

An unnamed narrator agrees to housesit for his old college friend, oskar, in a dreary, unidentified eastern european city. He is married to a californian art dealer named laura and he lives with two cats, named after russian composers, in an eastern european city. Care of wooden floors by will wiles harper press 2012 trade paperback 295 pages fiction. See more ideas about hardwood, wood floor cleaner and cleaning wood floors. Nov 29, 2019 will wiles is an architecture and design writer, and a ribaj columnist. Care of wooden floors is funny, beguiling and quietly profound. The title is a reference to a book oskar leaves along with instructions to immediately clean. Will wiles is an architecture and design journalist.

So i wondered where on earth would wiles go with book. Interior designers and cat lovers look away now, for care of wooden floors is a disaster novel. Jul 01, 2012 buy care of wooden floors by wiles, will isbn. Now the idea of a humorous book with an ocd plagued protagonist may seem in questionable taste to those of us who have the condition, but when i did my cbt i was shown a video of michael mcintyre skipping around, to take a lighter touch through life. Looking after a friends flat in a foreign city, a man expects its beautiful minimalist interior to make him a better person but it leads to chaos and humiliation. Neil double is a conference surrogate, hired by his clients to attend industry conferences so that they dont have to. I just spent a month in a rented maison in rural france, completing revisions to my forthcoming novel. Care of wooden floors is subtle, plot driven, and cleverly worded. This is audible, december 11, 2012 audiobook by kim.

A quick summary is appropriate, as wiless novels remain, for now, underregarded. Care of wooden floors, which won a betty trask award, and the way inn, published by fourth estate in june 2014. As an attendee of this event you will be able to purchase. Then maggie linton talks with will wiles, author of care of wooden floors, which starts with a simple case of house sitting, but doesnt really end that way.

Nov 28, 2012 care of wooden floors appears to take a lighthearted look at an obsessive personality. Care of wooden floors officially came out in paperback in the uk yesterday, although its been on the shelves in a few places for a few days and might take a day or two to filter through everywhere. A british copywriter stays for a week at his composer friend oskars elegant, ultramodern apartment in a glum eastern european city. A witty debut novel about a housesitting gig gone terribly, hilariously wrong. Care of wooden floors appears to take a lighthearted look at an obsessive personality. Its part of the waterstones book club this autumn, which means you can get it there for a substantial discount and if you dont like it theyll give you your money back. A book of maps that puts people, not destinations at the centre, hoping to leave readers feeling completely lost. Oct 09, 2012 i just spent a month in a rented maison in rural france, completing revisions to my forthcoming novel. His writing has appeared in cabinet magazine, new statesman, and other uk publications.

Will wiles isnt a goodreads author yet, but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed. You float free of context, in no place not sleeping, not fully awake, not at the mercy of the unknowns of the subconscious, and not yet exposed to the dull knowns of care and routine. Browse will wiless bestselling audiobooks and newest titles. And although i hadnt quite planned to read care of wooden floors by will wiles while there, i was struck by the similarities between his anonymous firstperson character and my. Waterstones autumn book club titles revealed the bookseller. Aug 14, 20 many wood floors on the east coast are well over 100 years old, says frink.

It is also mortifyingly funny as it is easy to identify with some of the situations in which the main character finds himself. Despite oskar leaving extensive notes on how to keep his flat in pristine condition, a tiny oversight initiates a chain of farcical, and even fatal, disasters. About will wiles will wiles is an architecture and design journalist and was formerly deputy editor of icon magazine. Sign in or create your guardian account to join the discussion. Jan 31, 2012 if wiless plot sounds like sitcom stuff fawlty towers as read, perhaps, by the pratfallloving freud of the psychopathology of everyday life be assured that care of wooden floors offers.

Jul 30, 2012 care of wooden floors is a charming and engrossing story of a man who travels to an unnamed eastern european city to mind the cats and the apartment of an old college friend. Architecture as fiction book club tickets, fri 29 nov 2019. Care of wooden floors 2012 was exactly what it said on the tin. Care of wooden floors is a charming and engrossing story of a man who travels to an unnamed eastern european city to mind the cats and the apartment of. His first novel, care of wooden floors, was a waterstones pick and won a betty trask award. And it is, a little, about how to take care of wooden floors. Care of wooden floors kindle edition by wiles, will. British author wiles first foray into literary fiction. Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1. Wiles is author of the novels care of wooden floors and the way inn to be published this june as well as an architecture and design critic so positioned between the very real world of designed. Care of wooden floors, by will wiles the independent. Titles from publishers hachette and random house feature strongly on the waterstones book club promotion for the next quarter, which launches in stores today 31st august. Oskar is a minimalist composer best known for a piece called variations on tram timetables.

Guardian uk this is a terrific first novel, written with a very engaging deadpan wit, and an understated sense of the absurd. Its a novel full of impeccably stylish writing, even if its plot could afford to. Architecture as fiction book club tickets, fri 29 nov 2019 at. And well start our yearend wrapup with robin whitten from audiofile magazine, who has some giftgiving suggestions. Care of wooden floors is a mustlisten for anyone whos ever bungled a housesitting gig, or felt inferior to a perfectionist friend that is to say, all of us. But when the wood loses its luster, hire an expert to apply a new coat of finish. For members of bournemouth book club this group has read. We read it with my book group and ones appreciation of it seemed to differ. Will wiles is an architecture and design writer, and a ribaj columnist. Care of wooden floors is about loneliness, friendship and the quest for, and struggle against, perfection. Times literary supplement a darkly comic battle of wills. Shortlisted for the arthur c clarke award 2014, this is a frankenstein tale for our time from one of the uks brightest new literary talents.

Discover more authors youll love listening to on audible. Its a life of budget travel, cheap suits, and out of town exhibition centers. I was over the moon when i heard will wiles had written a new novel. His first two books, care of wooden floors and the way inn, were both instant favourites, despite being wildly different from each other.

A british copywriter stays for a week at his composer friend oskars elegant. Like one of those nightmares when things keep going from bad to worse. Will wiles is the author of care of wooden floors 3. And although i hadnt quite planned to read care of wooden floors by will wiles while there, i was struck by the similarities between his anonymous firstperson character and my own situation. May 22, 2014 wiles debut novel, care of wooden floors, is laughoutloud, tearmaking, hysterically funny. The first fifteen lives of harry august, why be happy when you could be normal. The story does involve wooden floors, very expensive french oak floors. If wiless plot sounds like sitcom stuff fawlty towers as read, perhaps, by the pratfallloving freud of the psychopathology of everyday life be assured that care of wooden floors offers. London, just as you remember it, but utterly different.