Neil's Book of the Dead

by Nigel Planer, Terence Blacker

NEIL SAYS: "This book is the only luggage I'm going to need as I go through the departure gates of reality."

"The journey in this book is a total mind and body experience. The best way to describe it is as a state of complete blissed-out blotto. You are beyond ego, beyond thought, beyond hassles. There are no visions, no words, no smells, no magazines, no TV, no video, no pigs, no washing up, no jobs, no toilets, no troubles, no toilet troubles. All is blankness and all is truth. It's really nice.

"Books of the Dead are hevy magic so no one better read this until the year 2384 which, numerologically speaking, will be when people will have got their heads together enough to understand this book."

"Touch this book and run your fingers through my mind."

The Young Ones is the hit British TV series, now the newest sensation on MTV. Neil is one of the stars of The Young Ones, and Neil's Book of the Dead is his final message to mankind.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Comedy

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953 in Westminster, London) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright. Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray. He is long time comedy partners with Peter Richardson. He also narrates the children's TV show, Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've seen The Young Ones, this is a must-read. If you haven't seen it, stop what you're doing, buy some lentils, make lentil soup, watch The Young Ones, THEN find and read this book.

[Franchesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the Young Ones tv show and Neil's heavy, depressed hippy-ness then this book is for you. It is a great companion book to the television series, full of funny little snippets and anecdotes. I really enjoyed the sections titled "The New Age of Sex" and "Horizontal T'ai Chi". This book had me laughing, reading bits aloud, and even screeching with delight at times. It was really cute, I liked it a lot.

[Avery Stempel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah books of the dead, I've read a few... this one was humorous, silly, and down right ridiculous at times. Enjoyable and inane, with hidden gems of wisdom tucked in every few pages. If you loved young ones, you'll love this book.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, far out book by "Neil" (Nigel Planer) from The Young Ones. I met him in 2011, but didn't have the book on me for him to sign. Annoying!

[Ian Wood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Obviously not happy with the returns he got for ‘The Young Ones Book’ Nigel Planer presents us with Neil Pie’s ‘Book of the Dead’ a protracted suicide note from our favourite hippy.

If you thought the ‘The Young Ones Book’ was a dreadful cash-in ignoring all the charm of the TV series then this will really depress you. Still at least he didn’t record a dodgy version of ‘A Hole in my Shoe’ and we didn’t send it up the charts, oh dear.

[Desperados · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book if you are a fan of The Young Ones, if you are not there is no point in reading this. But then again I guess it is only Young Ones fans who even come accross this book.
It has some funny bits, but most of it is quite dull. As a fan I still enjoyed it though. The Young Ones only has two seasons and that is not enough to keep me happy, so a book like this is a nice extra.

[Bernadette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love The Young Ones. However, I probably should have read this book when I was in college. I might have enjoyed it a bit more.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bible.
The Bahavad Gita.
The Koran.
The Talmud.
Dianetics.
Son of MAD.
Be Here Now.
Neil's Book of the Dead.
What do these books have in common?
Nothing.
Well, something.
They are all shameless attempts at social manipulation of the feeble-minded, the weak-spirited, and the emotionally unbalanced.
Neil has nothing to say that hasn't been said before, and said with less hippy slang.
No wonder Rick always hated him.
Don't read this book. Read The Social Manipulation of the Feeble Minded instead.

[Mikey James · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of the Young Ones and what all the actors did after. But unfortunately, not a fan of this pointless book. Just unfunny ramblings and a total cash in based on Nigel’s fame from the series. It’ll look good on the shelf, at least.

[Gabrielrohns · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book that I have read 3 times!

[James Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but nowhere near as good as Young Ones - Bachelor Boys. Not sure I'd bother to read it again.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightenment may be found within. So may a recipe for really good lentils. Neil has tapped into the eternal pnuema and channeled it into this book. Dig it. Vivian is a bastard.