#85 Magnificent Bastards, by Rich Hall (Abacus)

I'm a big fan of the stand-up comedy of Rich Hall, one of the more intelligent and laconic comedians on the current circuit, but Magnificent Bastards, his collection of tall tales, didn't inspire the same pleasure.

It's perfectly fine, and there are some nice touches within the short stories, particularly with regard to the creation of some quirky characters. But the collection is quite disparate and never really gels together to become a greater sum than its parts.

The best story is of a man who vacuums prairie dogs as he plots to reclaim his family home, but on the flip side there is a bizarrely hyperbolic tale of a girl who invites 45,000 MySpace friends to a party at her house.

So, rating time:

#85 Magnificent Bastards, by Rich Hall (Abacus) - 6/10

Next up: The Heart of a Goof, by PG Wodehouse (Everyman's Library)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating