Product Description

The English are naturally, congenitally, collectively and singularly, livid much of the time. In between the incoherent bellowing of the terraces and the pursed, rigid eye-rolling of the commuter carriage, they reach the end of their tethers and the thin end of their wedges. They're incensed, incandescent, splenetic, prickly, touchy and fractious. They sit apart on their half of a damply disappointing little island, nursing and picking at their irritations. Perhaps aware that they're living on top of a keg of fulminating fury, the English have, throughout their history, come up with hundreds of ingenious and bizarre ways to diffuse anger or transform it into something benign. Good manners and queues, roundabouts and garden sheds, and almost every game ever invented from tennis to bridge. They've built things, discovered stuff, made puddings, written hymns and novels, and for people who don't like to talk much, they have come up with the most minutely nuanced and replete language ever spoken - just so there'll be no misunderstandings. In this hugely witty, personal and readable book, AA Gill looks anger and the English straight in the eye.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24178 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 237 pages

CHOICE
'An entertaining polemic.... a thought-provoking, some would say overdue, book that challenges the English self-image of genteel reserve.'

Review
'In a series of fascinating essays, Gill reveals there is a swell of suppressed anger in the English... Much of it is extremely funny, the reader is left with the queasy question: what if he is right?' (SUNDAY TIMES (30/7/06) )

'An entertaining polemic.... a thought-provoking, some would say overdue, book that challenges the English self-image of genteel reserve.' (CHOICE )

About the Author
AA Gill was born in Edinburgh. He is the author of two novels, Sap Rising (1997) and Starcrossed (1999), books on two of London's most famous restaurants, The Ivy and Le Caprice, and a travel book, AA Gill is Away. He is the TV and restaurant critic for the Sunday Times and is a contributing editor to GQ magazine. He lives in London and spends much of his year travelling.

Customer Reviews

Insightful and humourous, a must read.
A.A. Gill excuses the whole thing by saying that you won't find many facts in the book, only opinions, but it's only opinions that matter anyway. Personally I found myself savouring each chapter, laughing away to myself, there are many descriptions here that reveal things in a new light. As far as the article about humour, having had a mild brush with stand-up, it's all so true, or maybe it's all too true... Certainly an easier read if you're north of the border, in fact probably hilarious.

Sure, it's subjective--it's also intelligent
To indict this book for being subjective is beside the point; Gill never pretends to be other than subjective. That said, he is remarkably erudite, and the volume is full of interesting facts as well as opinions. I'm tempted to call Gill the Martin Amis of the travel essay, or the essay of cultural observation; his style is frequently over-the-top, even to the point of splenetic, but the guy is so intelligent you have to sit back and enjoy it. And he seems right on to me on so many things, including the barely contained anger that seems to pervade the people of this nation--and the fact that they have made repression into a fundamental character trait. As an American married to an Englishman, I have one other thing to thank him for: helping to explain my in-laws!

Rather pointless
It's not clear if this book is supposed to be a witty caricature of the English or a meaningful analysis of their culture. At times it strives for both but unfortunately it achieves neither.

Throughout the book Gill dusts off some fairly obscure examples of Englishness and uses them in an attempt to dress up his own prejudices as insightful commentary. For example - going to a comedy evening in a room above a pub with an audience of about 5 people and using this as justification for his claim that the English really aren't as humorous as they like to pretend. His analysis of the English love of rural life based around Prince Charles' model village is another lowlight.

This complete lack of an objective approach could be forgiven if the book was funny or if his observations rang true - but it's not and they don't. The irony is that despite the title it appears to be the author who has a large chip on his shoulder and rather a lot of spleen to vent.

Probably worth a read if you enjoy reinforcing a few old stereotypes about the English. For everyone else, it's rather pointless and not a little tedious.