The Grey Area

by Sean Hughes

Book by Hughes, Sean

Genres: Humor

124 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1995

About the author

An Irish stand-up comedian, writer and actor, noted for his dark, acerbic sense of humour.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Sean’s humour; he’s one of only a few comedians who can make me laugh out loud. This book isn’t primarily a humorous book but there are still plenty of jokes to be found and Sean’s personality and voice shines through in his writing.

This book is about living a life in ‘The Grey Area’ and the many questions and thoughts that appear as a result of doing so, it is made up of short sections of Sean’s ponderings about various topics, such as music, dinner parties, consumerism, pets and the Edinburgh Festival interspersed with short poems.

It’s a thought-provoking book and as a result it needs to be read in short bursts. Sean writes that the premise of the book is ‘The Grey Area’ of life where things aren’t always as expected. He stresses the need to think and continually question things rather than accepting ways and opinions that are fed to us by external sources. There is no ultimate truth, we are all independent beings and one life does not fit all so why do the media and other institutions try to tell us it does? Where does that leave the outsiders? Is this what causes us frustration in life when we push away our individual thoughts only for them to re-rise to the top at a later date because we can’t force ourselves in to the boxes the world tries to push us in to?

I really enjoyed this book, even though I’ve finished it I keep picking it back up and re-reading sections, I highly recommend this book to fans of Sean but also to anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the mainstream way of life.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favourite comics of the 90s. The comic stuff and the autobiographical stuff still stand up (no pun intended) and still make me laugh at the clever humour and smile at the roguish charm. The poetry and stories are less good and I feel that he and the publisher snook them in on the strength of his then current, popularity. Nothing wrong with that and I don’t suppose either of them expected to be being read a quarter century further on.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Laugh out loud funny :-)

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Made worthwhile by the Family Matters section and the poems.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the variety of the pieces. I would have probably got more out of it if I had been familiar with everything he talks about, e.g. a band he is a fan of.