Product Description

This is the hilariously surreal correspondence of Robin Cooper, who for several years has been plaguing department stores, hotels, associations, fan clubs and a certain children's book publisher with his letters. From the Campaign for Courtesy to the British Halibut Association - no one is safe. Whether he's arranging a surprise clarinet party for his wife, designing scarecrows made from beef or merely looking for his lost shoelace, Robin Cooper is clearly a man with far too much time on his hands.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2786 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Ricky Gervais
'Cooper's letters are absurd, pointless, and very, very funny'

Matt Lucas
'This is the funniest book I have ever read'

David Walliams
'I laughed so much I hurt myself - and others'

Customer Reviews

Absolutely hilarious book
A fabulously funny book. I laughed and LAUGHED and LAUGHed. My wife laughed so much a small bit of wee came out, but since having our second child, that does happen every 7 weeks or so.

For me, the enjoyment did not come from the letters being a `wind-up' - the author does not relish in making people seem foolish and does not ever really ridicule them. If they did subsequently read their own responses in the book, I think they'd see the funny side. The humour lies in the totally natural and unforced way the author writes about the bizarre, and his intelligent simple constructs in the correspondence. It avoids the lazy, artificially bizarre (hurling raw fish at a radiator) kind of comedy in favour of something more educated and rounded. The comedy reminded me of some of the more intelligent and less crude articles found in Viz, but a bit more grown-up.

The small details had me in hysterics. "Poor water boy" may not seem too hilarious, but in the context of the letter to the Belgian Ambassador, that single phrase had me howling for several (9) minutes and laughing the next morning (Thursday); at least I think it was Thursday because I remember seeing an offal lorry on that day.

Top notch
Cooper wasn't the first to embark on this genre but he's up there with the best. Funny, whimsical and wonderfully pointless. Henry Root is my all time favourite wind up merchant followed by The Raymond Delauney Emails, which is absolutely hilarious. Cooper's books are perfect for cheering you up on a day when you are feeling a little down.

Boring and really not funny
The idea for this book is rather simple: write silly letters to various companies and get them to play along with the game. It sounds interesting at first but I found it rather tedious. I had one or two giggles but there's nothing that really made me laugh out loud and I thought that the book lived up to it's title - it really is a timewaster! If you want cranks then I'd recommend watching Fonejacker, which is a very funny show with guaranteed laughs.