Boating For Beginners

A biblical parody of the Great Flood, Boating For Beginners is brimming with irreverence and ebullience, with much useful also to say about romance novels, pigeons, the orange demon, and living in a state of continuous prose. 

"Winterson's freewheeling mix of modernity and biblical antiquity make for a most unusual variation on the Genesis story... An entertaining read, a well-written lark, properly undermining so much of modern (and religious) life. "  -  Complete Review

Noah is a relatively ordinary man. He's a hard worker (he owns the thriving little pleasure boat company, Boating For Beginners), is slightly overweight and has a heart condition. In fact, apart from a bizarre antipathy towards frozen food, particularly Black Forest Gateau, he is Mr Bog Standard. That doesn't stop him from recognising a good thing when he sees it though. So when he accidentally creates God "out of a piece of gateau and a giant electric toaster", he realises he's onto a winner.

The girl bemoaning her lack of purpose in life is the teenager Gloria Munde, whose mother, Mrs Munde, is working as a cook in the household of Noah, the enigmatic celebrity and opinion leader. Gloria is the heroine of Boating For Beginners and it is her story that drives the rather fragmented narrative of this surreal satire. 

Bursting with ideas, Boating For Beginners rewrites religion and philosophy, while taking a pop at romantic fiction. It is perhaps Winterson's most overlooked work and although not her best, epitomises postmodern narratives that question patriarchal and capitalist society by means of irony, parody and pastiche.