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All in a Don's Day
Her central themes are the classics, universities and teaching - and much else besides. In this second collection following on from the success of It's a Don's Life, Beard ponders whether Gaddafi's home is Roman or not, we share her 'terror of humiliation' as she enters 'hairdresser country' and follow her dilemma as she wanders through the quandary of illegible handwriting on examination papers and 'longing for the next dyslexic' - on whose paper the answers are typed, not handwritten.Praise for It's a Don's Life'Delightful... it has the virtues of brevity, eclecticism and learning worn lightly... if they'd had Mary Beard on their side back then, the Romans would still have their empire' Daily Mail
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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240 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 17, 2012
I'm in in it, so of course it gets 5 stars. seriously, very entertaining dip into many topics and opinions...
December 14, 2022
Mary Beard is the number one celebrity classicist in the contemporary English speaking world and her personality and erudition certainly has captured the interest of this once-aspiring postgrad student of ancient Roman sexual history. In ‘All in a Don’s Day’ Beard’s classicist and ancient historian persona is deeply embedded in much of the text. However, this is not a dry as dust study of the life of an academic at Cambridge University. This book is a collection of numerous blogs from the period 2009-11 and Beard ranges over issues as varied as the pissing boy statue in Brussels to the consequences of protesting, and lots of variegated points in between, yes, this compendium of blog entries is mostly focused on the academic life, yet it is not purely devoted to the esoteric nature of life on and in one of the most elite education facilities in the world.
Beard’s opinions on all the subjects she tackles are informed by her erudition, her desire to engage as honestly as she can with the issues, and dare one say a somewhat matriarchal charm reinforced by her ‘English’ nature. She does not write comparatively nor is she so devoted to her own ego or the value of her arguments that she won’t except criticism. There are occasions when what she writes does not quite gel with more contemporary and perhaps PC values. However, there is an underpinning of reasonableness and intelligence that makes reading Beard’s blog entries far more informative and engaging than other more controversial or self-possessed columnists’ work.
It is also interesting to see that at the end of almost all places in this volume Beard and her publisher have included some of the responses to her pieces. There is a semi regular lineup of respondents who get the opportunity to have their views published in this text, and some of them they will be if not colleagues at least fellow academics. On some occasions these responses are more like a shared remembrance or anecdote. In other entries these replies reject Beard’s views. Beard, her editor and publisher deserve recognition for including such commentary on her writing.
It goes without saying that a good portion of this book is focused on Mary’s issues, processes, problems and other aspects of her life as a university academic. The life that she describes is certainly demanding (physically and mentality) but it must be noted that Beard obviously enjoys the job she has, the role she has undertaken. For all the concerns and challenges that she sites in this book at bottom the reader encounters the thoughts, feelings, actions and musings of a passionate intellectual. Also, Beard is willing to mix her intellectual stylings with arguably more mundane experiences.
There is no doubt that anyone who is interested in the world of academia, what it is like to be at Cambridge University, and perhaps the celebrity nature of Mary Beard will find plenty to enjoy in ‘All in a Don’s Day’. Relatively short and not too challenging for those who most likely will read the book (students and those with an interest in academia) this is a book that will be very engaging fir it’s probable audience. The nature of the text means that there is a rather fragmentary approach to the books narrative but that’s relatively inconsequential. At the end of the day this is a book about and by Mary beard and if one likes her work and her public persona then you will want to read it. If not you probably won’t.
Beard’s opinions on all the subjects she tackles are informed by her erudition, her desire to engage as honestly as she can with the issues, and dare one say a somewhat matriarchal charm reinforced by her ‘English’ nature. She does not write comparatively nor is she so devoted to her own ego or the value of her arguments that she won’t except criticism. There are occasions when what she writes does not quite gel with more contemporary and perhaps PC values. However, there is an underpinning of reasonableness and intelligence that makes reading Beard’s blog entries far more informative and engaging than other more controversial or self-possessed columnists’ work.
It is also interesting to see that at the end of almost all places in this volume Beard and her publisher have included some of the responses to her pieces. There is a semi regular lineup of respondents who get the opportunity to have their views published in this text, and some of them they will be if not colleagues at least fellow academics. On some occasions these responses are more like a shared remembrance or anecdote. In other entries these replies reject Beard’s views. Beard, her editor and publisher deserve recognition for including such commentary on her writing.
It goes without saying that a good portion of this book is focused on Mary’s issues, processes, problems and other aspects of her life as a university academic. The life that she describes is certainly demanding (physically and mentality) but it must be noted that Beard obviously enjoys the job she has, the role she has undertaken. For all the concerns and challenges that she sites in this book at bottom the reader encounters the thoughts, feelings, actions and musings of a passionate intellectual. Also, Beard is willing to mix her intellectual stylings with arguably more mundane experiences.
There is no doubt that anyone who is interested in the world of academia, what it is like to be at Cambridge University, and perhaps the celebrity nature of Mary Beard will find plenty to enjoy in ‘All in a Don’s Day’. Relatively short and not too challenging for those who most likely will read the book (students and those with an interest in academia) this is a book that will be very engaging fir it’s probable audience. The nature of the text means that there is a rather fragmentary approach to the books narrative but that’s relatively inconsequential. At the end of the day this is a book about and by Mary beard and if one likes her work and her public persona then you will want to read it. If not you probably won’t.
February 2, 2024
I definitely didn't realize that this was a collection of blog posts before picking it up, so it was a bit of a jarring start. I can't tell if it was the anticipation of wanting a proper classics book or if I really just didn't enjoy it but it did not hold my attention. Also, some of her takes, or at least the way she said them, were odd. Theoretically I like the idea of including comments, but in reality, I absolutely skimmed over them. Overall, I'd give her other academic books a shot, but I wouldn't read another collection of blog posts- honestly from anyone.
April 1, 2021
I chose this book to read because I’m a total fan of Mary Beard. Her blog entries provide a fascinating insight into the life of a Cambridge Don, as she maneuvers through an academic life of issues and people. I read only half of her entries, as I got the gist of her experiences at work. I prefer to watch her documentaries on telly and read her non-fiction books on Roman life.
February 24, 2020
Pleasant reading. Short chapters, often thought provoking. Makes you want to add comments at the bottom.
October 19, 2020
It was Ok
February 15, 2025
Some of her takes were worse than the first one, and there was less history stuff unfortunately, it still, a less good Mary Beard is a good book
July 12, 2012
Perhaps this makes me yearn for an England I thought had disappeared or the acceptance of an academic world as the norm? Beard is not an academic in my own subject matter, but I hang on her every word and am flying into the UK just to got to some lectures by her. This may be an acquired taste but it's my acquired taste.
March 31, 2016
Really good fun to reread all these blog posts in book form, with the best comments selected. Quite a few editorial mistakes and typos here and there, though.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews