I'll be the first to admit that Jasper Fforde is really,
really weird - which I happen to like, but I know others don't - but here, you have the added disadvantage that
Something Rotten is the fourth of - so far - five novels in the Thursday Next series of books.
If you do want to give it another try, you might like to start with
The Eyre Affair, or if you want to try another series,
The Big Over Easy, the first in the Nursery Crime series.
I find Fforde absolutely awesome and hilarious, but it's true, his books have sci-fi and fantasy elements and a lot of simply absurd plot twists, so it's not everyone's cup of tea. Lots of literary in-jokes too.
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