Product Description

Adrian Mole has entered early middle age and is now ‘the same age as Jesus was when he died' (33). Father to the grammatically challenged Glenn, and William, who takes a ‘Big Boy Arouser’ condom to nursery school as his innocent contribution to a hot air balloon project, Adrian is a single parent who has an on/off relationship with his housing officer, Pamela Pigg. Will she help him to move from the notorious Gaitskell estate before William joins the Mad Frankie Fraser fan club? In the meantime, Adrian continues to be scandalised by his irresponsible parents who are conducting a matrimonial square-dance with the Braithwaites – the parents of the beautiful but unobtainable Pandora, who is ruthlessly pursuing her ambition to be New Labour’s first woman P.M. – and to confide in his diary. His current worries include: indestructible head-lice; his raging jealousy when his accomplished half-brother Brett arrives on his doorstep; moral decline in The Archers; his desperate attachment to two therapists; his mild addiction to Starburst (formerly Opal Fruits); a small earthquake in Leicester; and, perhaps most significantly, the dawn of a new millennium.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1966 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-11
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
'The diaries are a satire of our times...very funny indeed' The Sunday Times 'Adrian Mole is one of the great comic creations of our time' Scotsman

About the Author
Sue Townsend, with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ (1982) and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984), was Britain’s bestselling author of the 1980s. Her other hugely successful novels include The Published Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 55 ¾) (2001), Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004) and Queen Camilla (2006).

Customer Reviews

Lost Diaries - excellent!
I think the cricitism here is far too harsh. Yes, it's a shame about the continuity errors, but this IS a work of fiction. What is evident is that Sue Townsend's social/political satire remains spot-on. There are many laugh-out-loud moments. It's not a masterpiece ('Adrian Mole and the Weapons Of Mass Destruction' may well be, however), but it's a worthy addition to the Mole story. As for repeated plotlines, surely that's part of the point: Mole's life seems doomed to repeat itself (i.e. often ending up caring for elderly people, often falling for inappropriate women, taking on bizarre short-lived jobs, and so on). This is where much of the comedy comes from.

My only real criticism is Sue Townsend's annoying trick of inserting herself into the story. This looks like she's trying to be 'clever' for its own sake but it really falls flat. It's pointless and only undermines the brilliant creation that is Adrian Mole. Otherwise, this book is well worth a few happy hours of your life. If you have enjoyed the previous volumes you will like this one, too.

Worst of a Very Good Bunch
I have to say, after reading this yesterday, that a) it is too short and b) it is full of recycled material, which dilutes my opinion of the book somewhat. This has the feeling of a contractual obligation-piece to it, and as has been mentioned above, the continuity errors are quite unbelievable at times. it's odd when a readership knows characters better then their creator!
having said all this, it still has laugh-out-loud moments aplenty and still contains the same anal, pedantic Adrian. Put aside the errors and you still have a very entertaining novel.
It may be the worst of the Mole books in my opinion, but it is still a Mole book. Enough said.

Big Disappointment
I am a huge fan of Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole books and needless to say I was waiting in great anticipation to see which woes would befall poor Adrian in this latest book. I was so disappointed with the entire book, there was no set story line, no humerous family hijinks, none of what makes me love Adrian Mole. In fact at the end of the book I felt a dislike towards his character. I've always had a slight issue with Sue Townsend's continuity in the series of Mole books but this one took the cake-in 'The Cappucino Years' set in 97-98 Adrian's sons are 3 and 13, in this book, set in 99-01 they start off as being 7 and 13, so William has miraculously aged 4 years in 2 and Glenn has not aged at all! Small details which I have picked up and know from re-reading previous Mole books hundreds of times like Glenns birthday being in April and now in this book being in February just irritated me. That may sound a little precious but when Ivan Braithwaite-who is mentioned to have died in 2000 in the book 'Adrian Mole & The Weapons of Mass Destruction' (set in 02-03) while still being married to Pauline Mole at the end of this book- he is still alive and kicking and back living with his ex-wife Tania. There are repeated storylines such as Adrians dad, George, being hospitalised with back injuries leading to him suffering a super bug which is straight out of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' and whole lines are re-used from earlier books. I may have a pedantic view on this but I think as a long time fan and reader of Townsend's books that she could at least keep track of even the simplest facts. I wouldn't recommend this book to others who have read all the previous books as I believe many would feel the same way as I do.