"This is Geoff Dyer's funniest book yet."
--Michael Ondaatje "This slim volume is a witty gem of personally inflected film analysis. . . . [Dyer] shows off an exquisite eye for visual detail. . . . The book complements a popcorn classic while functioning in quite a different register--in place of grandiose, visceral big-screen thrills, Dyer's fleet work gives off a playful, often funny intellectual high."
--Publishers Weekly
"Dyer is one of our greatest living critics--not of the arts, but of life itself--and one of our most original writers."
--New York "Geoff Dyer's
Broadsword Calling Danny Boy is an hilariously funny, freewheeling, rule-breaking, wholly original, scene-by-scene sprint through the crazy action film 'Where Eagles Dare.'"
--Craig Brown, Daily Mail Books of the Year
"[Dyer] is a brilliant, intellectually sparkling critic. . . . ['
Broadsword Calling Danny Boy'] is a feast of snark throughout, but that is because Dyer is a comedian to his fingertips as well as a very serious man. He would not waste humour on something he didn't care about. . . there are some superb one-liners. . . and he really lets his imagination rip on the acting . . . moreishly entertaining." --
The Sunday Telegraph "Highly entertaining, and a fine excuse to watch the movie again. . . brilliant. . . Dyer can't help writing brilliant sentences." --
The Guardian "Dyer's wry humour is everywhere evident. . . 'There is never a dull moment in
Where Eagles Dare, ' he writes, and nor is there in this book." --
The Sunday Times "Dyer is one of the most stylish writers alive, though, and he's great company."
--Literary Hub "A short, eccentric, hugely enjoyable work that succeeds admirably in capturing the daft exuberance off Where Eagles Dare."
--Literary Review
"Dyer makes for a droll guide, combining a scene-by-scene breakdown of the film's silliness with gonzo riffs on its cultural legacy . . . this is less a work of film criticism than a
jeu d'esprit." --
Financial Times "Dyer is at his best when giving glimpses of his childhood and adolescence, days of toy Lugers, Action Man and Airfix . . ." --
Sight & Sound