Manny Rayner's book reviews

I saw the latest Zep in a Geneva bookshop the other day, but, after leafing through a good third of it, decided not to part with my 25 Swiss Francs. I loved Happy Sex - unfortunately, this one basically seemed to be outtakes from the earlier book, or close to it. Of course, outtakes are often funny, and if you're a Zep fan then you're unlikely to be disappointed. I just thought that he'd already used up most of his best jokes in this department.

A couple of them were quite good though - here was the one I liked most. The teenage hero is telling the story. He's lured the girl back to his room. He's got her to take off her shirt. He's got her to take off her bra. She has quite nice breasts.

And then... he notices that she's got a prominent hair sticking up next to one nipple! He's grossed out. "It was like a barrier between us, a veritable jungle!" he explains, and you see this illustrated in the next frame's fantasy sequence. He wonders what Indiana Jones would do. Then he leans over decisively and yanks it out. The girl, you will be unsurprised to hear, does not appreciate this, and leaves precipitously.

Next day, he's bragging to his friend. "How far did you get with her?" asks the friend. "A poil!" boasts our hero, an untranslatable French pun. It's a stock phrase that normally means "completely naked", but literally it's "up to the hair".

Sorry... I know it's tasteless. It may be impossible to convey why I found this amusing without showing the artwork, in particular the fantasy sequence, and I can't find it anywhere online. Anyway, if you were also grossed out, I recommend that you avoid Zep.