GRUMPY OLD CHRISTMAS

by Stuart Prebble

So - 'tis the season to be jolly is it? Well, not in the household of the Grumpy Old Man it isn't. In the case of the GOM, 'tis the season to have to put up with even deeper layers of vexation than usual, and the only thing worth celebrating is that it looks as though you might after all be surviving to the end of what has been another crap year. Everything about Christmas gets up our snitches. Everything. From the breakfast telly presenters who tell us it's now just 120 shopping days to go, to the annual festive strike by airport baggage handlers. From office parties where drunken juniors have waited the whole year to tell you what 'the trouble with you is...', to parents videoing their precocious brats at the atrocious school nativity play where your kid is playing the part of the donkey's rear end. From the woman next door who drops in to show your wife the diamond ring her prat of a husband has bought her, to the 150th opportunity to see 'Whistle Down the Wind' on the telly. And speaking of wind, there's the festive Xmas turkey that tastes like blotting paper soaked in a puddle and sends your digestive system to hell. And how on earth are we really supposed to look happy when someone buys us a tie with a picture of xxxxing Santa on it? Eh?

Genres: Humor, Christmas, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2006

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gets right to the heart of why Christmas can be a grumpy time for some middle aged men. Very enjoyable.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun light book that made me giggle.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this over the first couple of weeks of December - the perfect time to highlight all that is ridiculous and amusing about the Holiday season. I didn't find it laugh out loud funny, but it was amusing in places and there was a couple of snorts of laughter during the read! One of those books that's hard to resist, especially at this time of year.

[Lucy Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Some of it was funny but it got a bit samey.

[Matt Newman]

I am grumpy! I seem to agree with Stuart Prebble much more than I had expected!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy the Grumpy Old Men books, and Grumpy Old Christmas did not disappoint. I do however find with this series (and this is unique among all books I read) that I prefer to listen to an audio book rather than read a paper copy. Arthur Smith's narration adds a hilarious touch, and even thiugh Prebble effectively communicates his grumpiness through his words, when Smith reads it, and actually sounds so grumpy about everything, he creates another level of humour not present in the books.

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Christmas present from guess who ... there's a message here I think. I haven't watched the TV version and after reading this I'll continue to stay clear. Very obvious digs at very obvious targets makes for an increasingly irritating read. Oh, and I can do without the effin' this and that.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wittily written.

I enjoyed it, even though I'm only 33 !

[Dominic Wade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book intriguingly funny but also in some respects true. Christmas should be a time to be jolly but at certain points we end up grumpy and irritated.

[Ray Melville · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fair; amusing in small doses.