Customer Rating:      Summary: How would he know about Britain if he doesn't live in it? Comment: Richard Littlejohn spends most of his time living in a gated community within Florida. When he comes back to Britain (read: England) he hardly goes out. He admits as such himself.
So, what does he know about the state of Britain?
And what does he know about being the trials and tribulations of ordinary members of the British public, when he's getting paid 900k per annum by the Daily Mail?
If you like reading rehashes of columns he's written before and you want to get worked up over something Littlejohn has personally never witnessed, and you despite "teh gays", "teh blacks", "teh immigrants" and "teh elf n safety stasi" then this book is for you.
You couldn't make it up.
Customer Rating:      Summary: He lives in Florida Comment: Like most of Richard's articles this book is a load of rubbish. The mere fact that Richard spends most of his life in Florida means he is in no way capable talking about the given time frame of the UK because he's too busy being an immigrant in America.
The writing style, as usual, is dumbed down for Littlejohn's key fanbase. If you're a fan of racism, ignorance, intolerance, homophobia and columnists from a newspaper that supported Nazism then this is a book for you. For everyone else, they'd get more entertainment out of a teletubbies DVD and only flick through this in the book shop if you want to see what brain damage feels like.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Those spoof reviews... Comment: I'm not particularly fond of Littlejohn's writing style, but at least this book of his surpasses the sarcastic, witless, banal, condescending drivel that smears most pages of these mock 5-star reviews. And at least, though he likes to repeat himself, he has the excuse of being the sole author of his repetitions. These spoof reviews are drenched with the worst kind of elitism, but each author seems unable to unable to match his (or hers, pardon) terrifying smugness with even the slightest hint of original thought. Why don't you keep your aloof, clueless chitter-chatterings amongst yourselves? Committing them to the written word over here only reveals how herdlike you really are.
Did you think you were being clever in your attempts at humorous criticism? Perhaps, next time, all of you could try and do something a little bit different from one another; you know, perhaps one of you, instead of throwing down a famous quote, or name dropping a few obvious philosophers (because of course, nobody who disagrees with you has ever read any of them) - maybe one of you could actually provide a sensible account of what you do actually believe? Perhaps you could even relate it to a sensible account of why Littlejohn is wrong, if you could manage stooping so low...
I could be accused of being just as hypocritical as these dear reviewers, because I haven't revealed much of substance in the way of where I stand on this book. However, these priggish reviews do all the work for me, and any sensible, thinking, sane English person, really. Even if Littlejohn's book is full of inconsistencies and flaws, at least he spares us the cringe-inducing heights of self-flattery that these reviews seem to be basking in. Some of his complaints about this wondrous country and its "fascist left" also happen to be damn true, however badly he words them, and he actually has things to say that go beyond worshipping his own superiority, which is more than can be said of the reviews over here.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Average but it has relevance Comment: The book somehow manages to be annoying, amusing and tedious at various stages so there are times where you just have to stick with it.
The whole thing is a collection of the author's thoughts and observations of how Britain has changed/evolved since 1997 when the Labour government first came to power and none of it is complimentary. The style can be annoying because the author insists on including his own satirical mock interviews, rhymes, songs etc...taken from some of his newspaper columns to parody the politics of modern day Britain - unnecessary and irritating after you've read 3 (and there's a lot more!). The book can also become tedious as the author hammers home the same point for the 10th time in two chapters. Despite all this there is still a very strong reason why this book has relevance. No matter how much Littlejohn may exaggerate some of the most major deficiencies in Britain today and how he blows up certain episodes way out of proportion the fact remains that pretty much all of his observations/comments have a basis in reality. It was amusing to read a review of this book on Amazon.com where the author was criticised for no longer living in the UK (he spends a lot of time in Florida). Clearly the irony of criticizing the author for not living in a county who's way of life he has just damned is completely lost on the reviewer.
The weakness of the book is in its style and the fact that those unaccustomed to life in the UK may not get some of the references or vernacular, but its strength comes when you realise just how much truth is behind the arguments - over-spun or otherwise.
Customer Rating:      Summary: A dreadful read Comment: A truly awful, awful book. I tried my best but I had to give up half way through - so poorly written, horribly misinformed and sloppily executed. Littlejohn comes across as nothing more than a stereotypical Middle Englander, whose only purpose in life is to moan.
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