John Crace

Being a season diary -cum-pity party written by a fan of London's Tottenham Hostspur football club as they seek their fortune during the 2010-11 season. The book is a curious example of the season diary subgenre; the author attributes mental illness and his attendant stays in mental institutions to his obsession with the team, and his self-deprecating humor, though typical of the genre, is here overblown to the point that, while the author is indeed funny when he wants to be, I ended up taking him at his word and not seeing him as somebody I would particularly like to know any better. His profound pessimism leads him into some introspective territory far beyond the usual, as he discusses mortality and the deeper roots of his fandom and its attendant, very expensive, collecting hobby, but sometimes these deeper paths could become somewhat cringeworthy; his disdain for his wife, which seems to be mutual, was pretty offputting. Their squabbles initially had a certain Ralph and Alice quality, but eventually it became apparent that these two were dead serious. His style was decent, though marred occasionally by syntactical sloppiness, and my admittedly limited tolerance of F-bombs was exhausted by about page twenty-nine. And as for his miseries following a club which is relatively wealthy and successful, I'd like to see his reaction if he supported the club I support for a season. This book gets points for frankness and gallows humor, but wasn't always enjoyable.… (mais)

A good, very topical look at the current political landscape in the UK, in the run up to the 2015 general election. A number of recent political events are included, including the Scottish referendum & also the Leveson Enquiry. Very observant, without being overly favourtist. It is also good at pointing out that all the political leaders & parties have faults, & attempts, in part to explain the appeal of Nigel Farage & UKIP. Anyone with an interest in politics, the political process, or what happens to the UK in the next five years, would be advised to have a glance through this humorous series of observations.… (mais)