Product Description

In the wonderful world of Monopoly, it still only costs GBP50 to buy a house in Islington, you can move around London with the shake of a dice and even park your car for free. In "Do Not Pass Go", Tim Moore, belying his reputation as a player, who always paid that GBP10 fine rather than take a 'Chance', fearlessly tackles the real thing, and along the way, tells the story of a game and the city that frames it. Sampling the rags and the riches, he stays in a hotel in Mayfair and one in the Old Kent Road, enjoys quality time with Dr. Crippen in Pentonville Prison and even winds up at the wrong end of the Water Works pipe. And, solving all the mysteries, you'll have pondered whilst languishing in jail and many others you certainly wouldn't, Tim Moore reveals how Pall Mall got its name, which three addresses you won't find in your A-Z and why the sorry cul-de-sac that is Vine Street has a special place in the heart of Britain's most successful Monopoly champion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79471 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Do Not Pass Go is the fourth comedy travelogue from Tim Moore--previous books have, respectively, chronicled his experiences trekking across Iceland in the footsteps of the Victorian Lord Dufferin (Frost on My Moustache), recreating Coryate's Grand Tour in a Rolls Royce (Continental Drifter) and cycling the route of the Tour de France (French Revolutions). Here, Moore, abandoning his customary modus operandi of inept Englishman abroad, opts to explore his native city by, as his children put it, "going round the Monopoly board but, like, in real life."

Monopoly was, at least officially, invented during the 1930s by Charles Darrow, an unemployed boiler salesman from Germantown, Pennsylvania. (Darrow went to his grave, Moore notes, "stubbornly refusing to recall any contact with The Landlord Game, patented in 1904."). The original, and subsequent American versions, featured the streets of Atlantic City. The English, London edition first appeared in 1936, the same year as television and, apparently, the phrase "body odour". Produced by Waddingtons, a firm of Leeds printers, the actual streets and stations were haphazardly chosen by Victor Watson, the managing director, and his secretary, Marjorie Phillips, after a weekend jolly in the capital.

Armed with board, dice and a 1933 London directory, Moore soon finds himself beaten by a Brazilian transsexual at Kings Cross (where else?); searching for the "Ampersand of Death" on Oxford Street; discovering how Coventry Street made the grade; tracing the decline of proto-Starbucks Lyons in Piccadilly and, of course, eating jellied eels in the "poo brown" east end of Whitechapel. Moore places himself firmly in the centre of his yarn and, like Bill Bryson, displays a remarkable eye for the incongruous comic detail. Sometimes the quips and jokes come at expense of real interaction with those he meets, but the result is a hilarious paean to game and city, that will have you ferreting about in a cupboard to retrieve a long neglected set. (I know I did.) --Travis Elborough

Review
'Moore is a talented and very funny writer' Daily Telegraph 'Hailed as the new Bill Bryson, he is in fact a writer of considerably more substance and the jokes come thick and fast' Irish Times

IrishTimes
"Hailed as the new Bill Byson, he is infact a writer of considerably more substance and the jokes come thick and fast "

Customer Reviews

Witty , Worldly and Wonderful
I just love this book and totally agree with a prior review which stated that you should not read this book in public.
In fact, I have been "ordered" not to read it within my own lounge room, as I distract the rest of the family from whatever it is, they are doing. They cannot concentrate with the titters,giggles and raving rounds of laughter, the deeper I get into the book.
Having just returned from this fantastic City of London, where I too played live "MONOPOLY" ,I have found though, that a most necessary accessory for reading Tim's master piece, if you are not a Londoner oneself, is a decent map of the city. I find I need to check out exactly where he is, in certain chapters so that I can get a true picture in my mind of where he is enjoying those truly special experiences. By finding my bearings on the map, I am able to relive my wonderful vacation to this remarkable city, which unfortunatly is so so far away from me now.
His facts and figures about specific issues amaze me and not only do I find myself laughing throughout the book but I also feel a strong urge to share these unknown facts to my whole family or in fact whoever is around at the time. It seems to me whilst reading, that Tim has written these strangely amazing bits and pieces of history, culture and trivea as if to to enlighten everyone and so I feel as if it is my duty as the reader,to be the delivery medium for the information. If I'm enjoying it then, so should others. His tongue in cheek humour just breaks me up and I feel as if I am lost within the huge expanse of those city streets myself as I delve into his interpretation of London via the Monoply Board.

Very very funny, very well written and truly entertaining. Thank you Tim for the memories.

Another hilarious Moore expedition
I have read all of Moore's books to date and this is definitely one of the best. I hacked through most of DO NOT PASS GO on two 3 hour flights. Be warned. Do not read alone in public spaces unless you are immune to the embarrasment of being considered deranged for laughing out loud.

Trivia, anyone?
Not a big Monopoly fan, but certainly a big fan of this book. Tim Moore does his research before going to a place, so he knows the kinds of things to look out for as well as the questions to ask: which makes this book really very enjoyable. I've learnt a lot of trivia from this book too - did you know that, for example, more people shop at Selfridge's every year than live in Australia? His writing is amusing and clever; his observations all the more valid for the research he does; and he comes across as a very human writer. If you live in London, or visit regularly, you'll get a lot out of this book - probably why I read most of it on holiday in the USA.