Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3930 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-11
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Synopsis
We live in an age of waffle, mumbo-jumbo and bad thinking. We're forever being fed dodgy information by so-called experts, scientists, opinion-makers, politicians, journalists and jumped-up little graduates. Their combined bad thinking includes: the idea that no one should win in running races at school, in case the losers get upset; the idea that owning a house in France is a decent way to spend your money; the idea that we should all talk about our feelings and that would make things better; speed cameras; mineral water; hummus; and the fact that everyone reckons they've got asthma. Get a grip! Why do we believe this nonsense? Because, as a nation we've forgotten the basic elements of common sense. Thank God then for Al Murray. He's here to put good old fashioned British common sense back where it belongs. This book brings together the wit and wisdom of the Pub Landlord, and the collective thoughts of the locals at Al's pub. Together they speak for generations of down-to-earth, normal, hard working, honest, sensible, normal, law abiding, tax paying (ish), normal, hard working, honourable, decent, reasonable people - British people.

Customer Reviews

Waste of paper
I am/was a huge fan of Al Murray but not after this book. It is pro British yet anti English/Irish/Scottish/Welsh it made no sense. He states that the Anglo-saxons were Germans that shouldnt have been here in the first place (a huge insult to the ancestors of the English!!!) and the Normans were British and thats why they won. Ridiculous crap.The rest of the book was filled with crap like "Is your pub a wine bar? Part 1,2,3,4,5 it wasnt funny. What a waste of money SHAME ON YOU MURRAY!!!!!!! SHAME ON YOU!!!!!YOU WERENT WORTH A PENNY!!!!!

Rubbish, well it's common sense isn't it?
As well as `joy to all' Christmas also heralds so many less welcome events into our homes such as `the Christmas jumper', `socks/ties adorned by cartoon characters' and most disturbingly `hilarious Christmas books'. Conceived as a sort of Annual for Adults these brightly coloured and lavishly tooled eyesores come gift wrapped from people whom have absolutely no idea what to buy us.

Once a year every fairly well known comedian/comic actor has his stage act stretched into a series of awful features by a crack team of hacks whom don't worry too much about whether it still works on being robbed of it's original setting as very few people actually read Christmas books as they are obviously rubbish.

The Pub Landlord works as a stage act because although what he says is reactionary and right wing bilge on the main, it is addressed in a suitable detached manner so that we know Al Murray is not in fact the Pub Landlord, whom is intended to be a deliberately grotesque character. Unfortunately this isn't apparent in reading it straight.

Some of the pieces are very good. I would recommend the get rich scheme outlining how to write an Alan Bennett play. I was so disappointed when it was finished I could only console myself with a cup of PG Tips and an After Eight Mint, even though it was only a quarter past seven.

On balance however I think I'd rather have got a book token. Still there's always next year.

This is not humour. This book will bore you to death
I bought this book because I really appreciate humour and I was taken to believe from the reviews on this page that this book was supposed to be so hilarious that the reader 'will split their sides laughing'.
Well the real truth is that this book is not a catalogue of humourous events or landlords stories.It is a pathetic collection of the ramblings of someone whose attempt to create humour deserves our sympathy.
In the end I recycled the book and decided to write a review that may save other readers their hard earned money.