To everything there is a season. A time to be born, a time to die, and a time to get a few things off your chest. The sequel to Grumpy Old The Official Handbook covers a year in the sad and sordid life of a Grumpy Old Man, sorting into dates and seasons the many and manifold bloody irritations which multiply in this perpetual torment that we call modern living.
Yes, it's a daily chronicle of life for the terminally irritable; an almanac of angst. If you know, live with, tolerate or, God forbid, ARE, a Grumpy Old Man, this is essential reading.
This wasn’t the book that I was expecting. I thought it would be a literary version of the TV series, which I found funny at the time (when I was in my early 30s) and which I expected to relate to even more now that I am in my early 50s. Instead, it was a year long diary by Stuart Prebble with very few contributions from others from the series.
He is a very annoying man and this is a very annoying book, liberally strewn with casual racism and homophobia that would not be printed now, which is actually a sign of progress, but I doubt that he would see it that way.
The book has also aged badly. Many of the things that made him grumpy are defunct and have been replaced by better alternatives. A sign of progress. Ironically, therefore, far from going to hell in a handcart, everyday life may actually be getting easier. Surely something to be happy about, not grumpy!
A bit of a laugh, it did get me chuckling out loud a few times - oh, the absurdity of life! Has it really been that long since the TV shows? 20 years! Hard to believe.
This was lying around my other half's bedroom and I picked it up whilst he was in the shower and began reading - I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud at the moaning old men. So true as well - I know men who say such things. A fun, silly book to pass away a spare hour or so.
My favourite so far of all the "Grumpy Old" books. Like Stuart, I find something to be grumpy about almost every day. I particularly enjoyed his holiday in Lanzarote. Very funny!