Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #128450 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-10
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
It is, of course, the ultimate indignity for the radical author of Hoo-Hahs and Passing Frenzies, a lipsmacking selection of essays, diatribes and merciless satire, that the Conservative Party should have elected a leader who so resembles him. Francis Wheen has written two deservedly lauded political biographies--Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions and Karl Marx--and these collected ruminations, spanning 10 years writing for the Guardian, Observer, and, at times, anyone who'll publish him, display a wit and learning so lacking in the majority of his subjects. Dedicated to former Labour leader and notable scholar Michael Foot, an act which immediately establishes Wheen's integrity and utter unelectability, "Hoo-Hahs" tears into a menagerie of bêtes noires, baiting bigots and bureaucrats, cowing charlatans, pricking the bombast of the self-serving, and defrocking the sanctimonious. Little fails to entertain, persuade or inform, though particularly outstanding passages include a comparison of Tony Blair's Third Way with a lemon-meringue pie, a defence of Blair's Gaveston, Peter Mandelson, in his hour of disgrace, a brilliant reappraisal of the 1970s which casts off platform shoes for a scathing memoir of the more sinister platforms for rightwing zeal, and a portrait of PG Wodehouse as a closet, or not so concealed, Marxist. Even the "Innovations" mail-order catalogue, in all its absurdity, doesn't escape reference to Marx.

In addition to possessing a scathing wit, Wheen prides himself on a long memory, describing amnesia as the "handmaiden of hypocrisy", which is why he is so damning of those who prove advantageously forgetful, whether it be Blair, Lord Archer, his twin towers of perpetual loathing, Rupert Murdoch and the late Robert Maxwell, or the media mogul du jour, such as Richard Desmond. Widely read, from Machiavelli and St Augustine to pulp political biographies, and a scrupulous factchecker, the way in which he profitably frames contemporary issues within their historical context, reminds us that it was ever thus, and ever will be. As he comments of a perennial foe, Henry Kissinger, "You can put a great white shark in a goldfish pond, but it remains a shark for all that". Wheen remains the great white hope in the battle against the sharks and hyenas. Hurrah for "Hoo-Hahs".--David Vincent

Synopsis
Francis Wheen has established himself as one of the most brilliant and admired journalists writing in Britain today with his massively acclaimed biography of Karl Marx, his contributions to radio and TV and his outstanding commentary and analysis. This book brings together the best of his collected journalism from the Guardian, Observer and magazines such as Esquire and The Modern Review. Ranging from the follies of think-tanks to the future of swearing, the hypocrisy of New Labour to the madness of retired prime ministers, all via shady business deals and scabrous gossip, this is a book that none of Wheen's legion of admirers will want to miss.

Customer Reviews

"It's a pretty safe rule in life that any idea supported by Tony Blair, Rupert Murdoch and Jeffery Archer must be a dud..."
Nowadays the deputy editor of "Private Eye", Francis Wheen was once upon a time one of the very best, if not the best, columnists in the business. Unlike a great deal of his contemporaries he did not overzealously push a political agenda (though he is very much of the left), but adopted a different and singular approach. Through a combination of scrupulous research (something rare in newspaper writing - just google a few statistics vaguely relevant to your subject, seems to be the way forward now) and a mischievous lightness of touch he unearthed, in a seemingly casual manner, the deceit, dissembling and hypocrisy endemic in the political life of both the right and left, not to mention the way apparently agonised-over governmental 'choices' almost always ended up those choices that favoured ever more market fundamentalism - a recurring theme in this book.

Inevitably there are one or two pieces that seem inconsequential; the law of averages practically demands it given the amount of material here. But that's nitpicking considering the wealth of good stuff. Wheen's own 'How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered The World' pilfers a fair bit from this collection's acidic attacks on astrology and self-help literature, for example. But stronger targets are Jack Straw (the most proudly illiberal Home Secretary we've ever had, as Wheen sees him), Rupert Murdoch (Murdoch's biography, reviewed herein, gets short shrift for all the shady stuff it leaves out), Ted Heath (hobnobbing with the same Chinese officials behind the Tiananmen Square massacre, then attacking people who questioned this), and Jim Callaghan, whose disasterous prime ministership ushered in the Thatcher era...

There are also quirkier digressions, such as a piece on the way both politics and the class system in England always seem somehow bound up with the playing of cricket and a guide on how to write a bestselling politician's autobiography (surprisingly, details of your sex life do not go down well - Alan Clark's memoirs were an anomaly in this regard). Not to mention some immensely entertaining riffs on the essential absurdity of being in the Secret Service - Wheen considers the American conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche Jr. to hold ideas no more eccentric than the entrance qualifications required for MI5.

There are, in fact, too many highlights to list. Suffice to say, "Private Eye"'s gain is the newspaper world's considerable loss.

Wheen the genius
Wheen is a left-wing journalist with an unerring eye for pricking the pomposity and self-aggrandisement common to so many of our public figures. Wheen's pinpoint research uncovers dusty skeletons in the closets of all politicians, judiciary, businessmen, academics and bureaucrats alike. King of all he surveys, Wheen is also a masterful wordsmith (see also his excellent biographies) and never less than a joy to read. This collection is the piece de resistance of modern journalism. Read and enjoy!

Truly excellent journalism and very funny.
It’s hard to strike a tone which isn’t too gushing in commenting on this book because I think Francis Wheen is easily the best journalist working in Britain today. His avowed purpose is tell you what you couldn’t have found out or worked out for yourself, which ought not to be such a rarity, but is scarcely to be found among the downloaded-off-the-Internet trite nonsense that fills most newspapers these days. I knew that Wheen could be relied on for actual information and insight but what rather surprised me when reading this book is just how plain funny his writing is. I think a right-winger is not going to like his opinions but will enjoy the book anyway just for the brilliant and totally hilarious putdowns of New Labour amongst many, totally deserving, others.

It is also nice to read somebody who uses cultural references, but not as a means of demonstrating his own superiority. What I mean by that is he does not fake an assumption that everybody has read the same books he has (the pompous ‘as we all know’ kind of attitude), and therefore actually tells you something about say, Machiavelli. Of course, what the ‘as we all know’ often hides is the ignorance of the person writing but Wheen puts so much thought and research into what he writes he does not need to bluff. I had the sensation of being ‘improved’ by this i.e. educated, but it’s such a great read it didn’t seem like effort: a win-win situation.

Although the title mentions 1991 – 2001 most of the pieces here are from the later half of that period and have clearly been chosen for continued relevance. The point Wheen himself makes is that perspective is vital as in ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to fulfil it’ and none of this writing loses resonance for being a few years old. All in all, blooming brilliant and compulsory reading for anybody with the slightest interest in politics, current affairs, journalism or good books in general.