Product Description

Previously pulled from publication after pressure from the MP for Orkney on the grounds that it was "vindictive and hurtful", this all-new, 100% proof, fully-restored and totally unexpurgated edition of Chucking It All exposes the gritty reality behind all those twee bestsellers which extol the joys of sunny rural idylls.

With its remorseless true-life account of downshifting to a remote Scottish island, Chucking It All uncovers the frightening realities of relocating to "a magical island lost in the mists of time" as you follow the warts-and-all adventures of urban misanthrope, Max Scratchmann, as he valiantly tries to forge a new life in the windswept Orkney islands, and grumbles his way through unending winters with eighteen-hour nights, nocturnal visits from drunken farmers and booty calls from desperate divorcees.

From struggling to fit in as a temporary postman in a wilderness where houses don't display numbers or names, to attending drunken country ceilidhs with the island single's club, or finding himself up to the neck in local politics while performing in the village pantomime, Chucking It All is an urbanite's nightmare and one of the most hilarious books that you will read this year.

Irreverent, sarcastic and bitingly caustic, Chucking It All still manages to be a grudgingly affectionate portrait of rural life through the eyes of a cynical outsider, and is one of the truest accounts of "living the dream" ever published.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50834 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Customer Reviews

Great little book
This book is a must for all people with a good sense of humour as it is very facetious, funny, witty and quite corrosive at times.
The author hits a very true note about the everyday life in a small Island, and it shows with great accuracy what one can expect when downshifting.
I enjoyed it so much that I ordered copies for friends who like to have a good laugh.
Well done, Max.