Campaign for the American Reader: Pg. 69: "The Dead Fathers Club"

Matt Haig is the author of The Dead Fathers Club, The Last Family in England, and a forthcoming children's novel called Shadow Forest.

I asked Matt to apply the "page 69 test" to The Dead Fathers Club, which will be published in the US in February. Here is his reply:

Okay, my page 69 is mainly white space because it comes at the end of a chapter. Mind you, the white space itself is pretty representative of the book not only because of the short chapters but because when the main character, the eleven year old Philip, is prescribed Diazepam for panic disorder I use blank pages to illustrate his state of mind.

Anyway, there is one sentence on page 69. The sentence is this:

“And I was pointing at Uncle Alan but not looking and my body was shaking and Mum was holding me and spit was out of my mouth hanging and I was in her jumper my face was and I closed my eyes and smelt her warm jumper and it was a nice smell like flowers.”

This is a key point in the book, when Philip finally believes his father’s ghost and is convinced his Uncle Alan is a murderer (there’s a lot of Hamlet stuff going on). It is the first night Uncle Alan stays with Philip’s mother, and the first time Philip expresses his anger.

You will notice there are no commas. There are no commas in the whole book because it is all from the perspective of Philip, and I figured Philip’s thoughts would be too fast to accommodate much punctuation. I am well aware this might put people off the book but the truth is when I wrote with commas and apostrophes it didn’t feel as good, so I changed it. In the UK where I live there is a lot of debate about grammar, especially in education, and knowledge of correct grammar is obviously significant and necessary but in my view there is not enough emphasis put on imagination. After all, Shakespeare was inconsistent with punctuation and even spelt his own surname six different ways and he seemed to do okay.

Another thing that this whole page 69 exercise has made me realise is how many chapters end with Philip needing a hug. Here he ends up in his mum’s jumper (sweater). In other chapters he fantasises about being embraced by his History teacher, Mrs Fell, or his girlfriend (Ophe)Leah.

For instance, page 162 ends: “The bell went and Mrs Fell just looked at me with sad shoulders. I wanted her to hug me and to put my head in her warm boobs for ever. But that wasnt going to happen so I picked up my bag with my weapons in it and I went out.”

So, ultimately, I have no idea how many people would want to read the book after reading page 69. People who love blank space or loose punctuation or maternal hugs or – preferably – all three, are, I suppose, the perfect page 69 readership.

Many thanks to Matt for the input.

Read chapter one of The Dead Fathers Club.

The novel has scored much praise, including:

Philip is a breathless storyteller who seldom stops for punctuation but whose honesty and innocence, which shine from every sentence, are utterly captivating and heartbreakingly poignant. The result is an absolutely irresistible read.
--Booklist (starred review)

We now owe another debt to Shakespeare, and one to Haig, for re-imagining a tragic masterpiece with such wit, force and - yes - originality.
--Kirkus (starred review)

The plucky hero impressively navigates the gloomy, pungent waters of retribution, death and guilt, and Haig gives an enviable job of leavening a sad premise through the words and actions of a charming, resilient young man.
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Totally engrossing.
--Stephen Daldry, director of Billy Elliot and The Hours, (Observer)