No! In a word disappointing: I found the writer and his brothers to be completely self-indulgent people and not at all interesting or amusing. ( )

Rupert Thomson writes movingly about his life and his family, centred around the death of his father in the 1980s when he and his two brothers return to their hometown of Eastbourne. Thomson writes about his childhood, his mother and then his step-mother in addition to his father, his relationships with friends and family, and events subsequent to his father's death. Central is his relationship with his two younger brothers, Robin his younger to whom he is clearly very close, and Ralph his youngest. while staying together in the family home immediately after their father's death a rift develops between Ralph and the other two, a rift Rupert does not understand and one that will take some twenty five years to resolve.

I did not realise when I bought the book that Rupert Thomas was raised in Eastbourne, and was almost a contemporary of mine, but I must admit much of the appeal of his memoir is the familiarity of the location: I recognized the house he grew up in from his descriptions, I frequented many of the same places as he and Robin, I attended the same art school as Robin just a few years in advance; so this was a as much a nostalgic trip for me! But I mention this because it highlights the quality of the writing which brings all this alive so convincingly.

This Party's Got to Stop is an engaging account, beautifully written, and at times very moving. I particularly found the closeness Rupert and Robin enjoyed very touching. While the author does bot dwell much on his own career, I get the impression from the extent of his travels alone that he has lead a very interesting life - yet he dwells little on this aspect, much of the attention is directed away from himself - this is not a book about the author, but about his family and relationships. ( )