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Here Comes the Fun: A Year of Making Merry
Food fights, fishing and French cooking - bestselling author Ben Aitken's year of actively pursuing fun
Ben Aitken wasn't getting enough. He knew it and so did everyone else. He was grumpy, increasingly boring, mostly joyless. So, he joined a lawn bowls club. A week later, he doubled down on the doldrums by learning to dance like they do in Bollywood. Then - with an almost entirely reformed selfhood winking appealingly just around the corner - he started swimming in cold water and was back to square one.
Despite the setbacks (and hyperventilation), it was becoming clear to him that the very pursuit of fun was a great way of not feeling naff. And so he made a vow to have as much of the f-stuff as he possibly could.
Taking a liberal approach to the subject, he sought out things that he used to find fun a long time ago (i.e. food fights and wrestling); things that he'd never done before but reckoned could be fun (boozy French cooking classes, tantric sex); things whose fun-factor was less obvious and more down to earth (nostalgia, volunteering, edible gardening, watching chickens); and things that he wasn't at all sure about but were fun according to other people (gym classes, caving, TikTok). Unsurprisingly, the results were mixed, but he was undoubtedly left feeling ... better. Which left him asking, if fun is the finest medicine, why do we stop doing it?
Ben Aitken wasn't getting enough. He knew it and so did everyone else. He was grumpy, increasingly boring, mostly joyless. So, he joined a lawn bowls club. A week later, he doubled down on the doldrums by learning to dance like they do in Bollywood. Then - with an almost entirely reformed selfhood winking appealingly just around the corner - he started swimming in cold water and was back to square one.
Despite the setbacks (and hyperventilation), it was becoming clear to him that the very pursuit of fun was a great way of not feeling naff. And so he made a vow to have as much of the f-stuff as he possibly could.
Taking a liberal approach to the subject, he sought out things that he used to find fun a long time ago (i.e. food fights and wrestling); things that he'd never done before but reckoned could be fun (boozy French cooking classes, tantric sex); things whose fun-factor was less obvious and more down to earth (nostalgia, volunteering, edible gardening, watching chickens); and things that he wasn't at all sure about but were fun according to other people (gym classes, caving, TikTok). Unsurprisingly, the results were mixed, but he was undoubtedly left feeling ... better. Which left him asking, if fun is the finest medicine, why do we stop doing it?
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
302 pages, Hardcover
Published May 25, 2023
13 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Ben Aitken
11 books142 followersBen Aitken was born under Thatcher, grew to 6ft then stopped, and is an Aquarius. He is the author of six books: Dear Bill Bryson, A Chip Shop in Poznan (a Times bestseller), The Gran Tour ('Both moving and hilarious', Spectator), The Marmalade Diaries, Here Comes the Fun and Shitty Breaks.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 23, 2023
2.75 stars
I liked the idea behind this book - looking at different ideas of fun over the course of a way. Except I think the author lost his way halfway through and it meandered a bit too much and turned into a bit of 'I need to try to be funny but instead, I'm a bit of a git'
There are some good ideas here and perhaps the issue I have is with the format - it's presented in a linear way which means that we spend 2 weeks on a cruise with the author and that drags the whole thing down. Perhaps he felt it too? I wonder if it had been divided into bigger chunks rather than specific days and months, there would be have been the opportunity to drop some things that didn't work.
I hadn't read anything by Ben Aitken before and perhaps I'm not the audience but I really felt he was trying too hard to be funny and by the end of the book, I really disliked him.
That said, I am going to read some of the (very few) books he's referenced because perhaps that's what I need more than a year of a middle class white dude learning improv and sitting on a bench.
I liked the idea behind this book - looking at different ideas of fun over the course of a way. Except I think the author lost his way halfway through and it meandered a bit too much and turned into a bit of 'I need to try to be funny but instead, I'm a bit of a git'
There are some good ideas here and perhaps the issue I have is with the format - it's presented in a linear way which means that we spend 2 weeks on a cruise with the author and that drags the whole thing down. Perhaps he felt it too? I wonder if it had been divided into bigger chunks rather than specific days and months, there would be have been the opportunity to drop some things that didn't work.
I hadn't read anything by Ben Aitken before and perhaps I'm not the audience but I really felt he was trying too hard to be funny and by the end of the book, I really disliked him.
That said, I am going to read some of the (very few) books he's referenced because perhaps that's what I need more than a year of a middle class white dude learning improv and sitting on a bench.
March 30, 2024
A fun and good-spirited book, with some well-meaning advice and inspirational moments.
I quite liked the writing style for the most part. I particularly liked where the author was actively investigating how other people had fun, as well as exploring his experiences trying things out. There were some nice observances of what constitutes as 'fun', and it was interesting to 'meet' so many characters.
I do think that it lost its way when it was clear he was trying to prove a point. A times it felt like he was over the top about how lovely and life-changing an experience was, and at others it felt more like he was angling to be a comedian.
Also, despite the warnings at the beginning, it does lose its 'inspirational' elements when you realise just how much free time and money he seems to have. Reading about someone's third holiday in eight months is never fun.
So yes, it had a really good heart and there was a positive message to it. But I'd prefer something more accessible and realistic.
I quite liked the writing style for the most part. I particularly liked where the author was actively investigating how other people had fun, as well as exploring his experiences trying things out. There were some nice observances of what constitutes as 'fun', and it was interesting to 'meet' so many characters.
I do think that it lost its way when it was clear he was trying to prove a point. A times it felt like he was over the top about how lovely and life-changing an experience was, and at others it felt more like he was angling to be a comedian.
Also, despite the warnings at the beginning, it does lose its 'inspirational' elements when you realise just how much free time and money he seems to have. Reading about someone's third holiday in eight months is never fun.
So yes, it had a really good heart and there was a positive message to it. But I'd prefer something more accessible and realistic.
July 24, 2023
I was gifted this and didn't know what to think - was my friend trying to tell me something? And I also thought - I'm too busy for fun, there's too much on my plate etc. I was a bit negative to be frank and didn't expect to get through the first few chapters. But. It won me over. The author talks about fun being as much about taking things away from your life as adding them. He quits drink and swaps his smartphone for a dumb one. And his favourite fun thing is sitting on a bench. It's a funny book. And a surprising one. He's no doctor or psychologist but the book has value nonetheless. Some occasional poor usage of semi-colons, mind you. (Pedantry can be fun!)
June 12, 2023
Loved ‘The Gran Tour’, enjoyed’The Marmalade Diaries’, found the others a bit boring.
I’m not sure what this book is about, other than being a memoir disguised as a book about fun. I didn’t have much fun reading it so I abandoned it.
I’m not sure what this book is about, other than being a memoir disguised as a book about fun. I didn’t have much fun reading it so I abandoned it.
February 21, 2025
An enjoyable book on some of the finer points of 'fun'.
I enjoyed the anecdotes, but the philosophical parts of fun were ironically not great fun to read.
I enjoyed the anecdotes, but the philosophical parts of fun were ironically not great fun to read.
March 8, 2025
This is Aitken's third book that I've read and enjoyed. There is something about his humor that strikes me as very funny. Maybe his humor is simply British and everyone speaks/writes that way across the pond? For whatever reason, I like his sense of dry amusement coupled with earnestness. He also has a special affinity for old folks, which I share.
This book is about his year-long venture to make merry, to try new things and have fun.
Favorite bits:
1--His penchant for bingo on a cruise: "This sounds odd, but it appears to me that I am more emotionally demonstrative playing bingo than in any other area of life. The sport just gets me going. It just fires me up My heart's going like the clappers."
2--When he participates in Ecstatic Dancing--"By this point I'm unquestionably having fun: in part because of the sowing/fishing (a dance move he creates), and in part because it's now beyond any doubt that I could do some pretty wacky shit in here and still go utterly unnoticed. Next to what the others are up to, my genteel evocations of pre-industrial labour are pretty vanilla."
3--When he is taking a drawing class and the instructor tells him (and the class) "Don't use your brain!"--"I hardly need to point out that not using one's noggin so much is threatening to become this book's only identifiable theme."
This book is about his year-long venture to make merry, to try new things and have fun.
Favorite bits:
1--His penchant for bingo on a cruise: "This sounds odd, but it appears to me that I am more emotionally demonstrative playing bingo than in any other area of life. The sport just gets me going. It just fires me up My heart's going like the clappers."
2--When he participates in Ecstatic Dancing--"By this point I'm unquestionably having fun: in part because of the sowing/fishing (a dance move he creates), and in part because it's now beyond any doubt that I could do some pretty wacky shit in here and still go utterly unnoticed. Next to what the others are up to, my genteel evocations of pre-industrial labour are pretty vanilla."
3--When he is taking a drawing class and the instructor tells him (and the class) "Don't use your brain!"--"I hardly need to point out that not using one's noggin so much is threatening to become this book's only identifiable theme."
July 24, 2023
One of the things I took away was that the apparent pointlessness of fun belies its important ability to make us feel good / alive. Enjoyed the cruise, the pilgrimage, the choir, the vets football. Don't fancy the ecstatic dancing / laughing yoga.
March 17, 2026
We all need to unwind from the stresses of the world around us, and Ben Aitken is on a mission to work out what makes something fun. After all, there could be so many fulfilling activities that he’s missing out on.
I was first drawn into Aitken’s take on the world with his marvellous The Gran Tour, and I’ve swiftly devoured all his other books. Here Comes the Fun was not only amusing but at time poignant and utterly irresistible due to his successful and not so successful adventures. You never know what will bring you enjoyment until you give it a go. And reading about Aitken’s attempts was an entertaining few hours.
You won’t regret spending time in Aitken’s company.
I received an early copy from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a review.
I was first drawn into Aitken’s take on the world with his marvellous The Gran Tour, and I’ve swiftly devoured all his other books. Here Comes the Fun was not only amusing but at time poignant and utterly irresistible due to his successful and not so successful adventures. You never know what will bring you enjoyment until you give it a go. And reading about Aitken’s attempts was an entertaining few hours.
You won’t regret spending time in Aitken’s company.
I received an early copy from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a review.
August 11, 2023
At first I wasn't taking to this book – the efforts to poke a dig at the Wallaces, Hawkeses, Gormans et al a touch too heavy, the whole description and oomph of defining the purpose of these proceedings far too woolly (and the author's style of using so many brackets too OTT (damn)). But before too long the author's seeming shtick ran to front the pack and after that it was a pleasant race to watch. I think there is definitely a place for how our man seems to want to grow old before his time – previously he lived through copious coach trips, here he tries crown green bowling, bridge and cryptic crosswords (among many other things (of course)) as he tries on for size as many ways as he can to find an elusive sense of fun.
Fun being very subjective, he does things that clearly aren't going to be fun – volunteering in a charity shop, sitting in public doing sod all, etc – but even those can be interesting to read about. Enjoyable to read about. Fun to read about? Well, again – that's clearly going to rely on your own opinion. And he does actually justify how he finds the fun in such things, which is pleasant. You're willing the fun to be there, of course – a book about the lack of fun for a year would be a return to that there misery memoir genre, which nobody in their right mind wants.
Ultimately this seems to fit into the halfway house between a straight-up diary and one of those self-imposed-quest travel books the aforementioned knocked out (and peppered said charity shops with). He goes here and does this, tries that, and the bruising, face-planting and so on count only goes up. He needn't have done any of it, so it is just larking about for material for a book, but inasmuch as there is little that we can take from this and apply to our own lives, it's not unenjoyable to discover this.
Oh, and to discover "semi-octagonal roofs", which I would have thought were perhaps square. Three and a half stars – four does seem too generous.
Fun being very subjective, he does things that clearly aren't going to be fun – volunteering in a charity shop, sitting in public doing sod all, etc – but even those can be interesting to read about. Enjoyable to read about. Fun to read about? Well, again – that's clearly going to rely on your own opinion. And he does actually justify how he finds the fun in such things, which is pleasant. You're willing the fun to be there, of course – a book about the lack of fun for a year would be a return to that there misery memoir genre, which nobody in their right mind wants.
Ultimately this seems to fit into the halfway house between a straight-up diary and one of those self-imposed-quest travel books the aforementioned knocked out (and peppered said charity shops with). He goes here and does this, tries that, and the bruising, face-planting and so on count only goes up. He needn't have done any of it, so it is just larking about for material for a book, but inasmuch as there is little that we can take from this and apply to our own lives, it's not unenjoyable to discover this.
Oh, and to discover "semi-octagonal roofs", which I would have thought were perhaps square. Three and a half stars – four does seem too generous.
August 12, 2023
This has all the familiar flaws of earlier books... but with the added bonus of quiet references to those earlier books, such as his visit to Tiptree on the back of writing The Marmalade Diaries, and being able to say a few words in Polish (to someone who turned out to be Ukranian). It was also predictably engaging, warm without being trite, and occasionally laugh out loud.
The subject matter is perhaps more slippery, tenuous even, than previous books and Aitken in search of fun is less a Bollocks to Alton Towers guide to places and activities, than about the people he meets (and his own responses) There's a little too much overthinking about overthinking, but he doesn't overload the book with the background research he clearly did do.
But the range is a joy: sitting on a park bench, improv classes, going on a Scandinavian cruise (a good way to get in a lot of different activities), volunteering in a library and a charity shop, coasteering, and he ducks out less than in his previous projects I think. Still plenty of characters: the heartbreaking story of Derek, 'deadpan' Hyacinth the social worker from Peckham.
The subject matter is perhaps more slippery, tenuous even, than previous books and Aitken in search of fun is less a Bollocks to Alton Towers guide to places and activities, than about the people he meets (and his own responses) There's a little too much overthinking about overthinking, but he doesn't overload the book with the background research he clearly did do.
But the range is a joy: sitting on a park bench, improv classes, going on a Scandinavian cruise (a good way to get in a lot of different activities), volunteering in a library and a charity shop, coasteering, and he ducks out less than in his previous projects I think. Still plenty of characters: the heartbreaking story of Derek, 'deadpan' Hyacinth the social worker from Peckham.
January 31, 2025
I found this to be a bizarre read. On the one hand, I found myself enjoying large portions of Ben’s writing. For example, the section spent chronicling his time spent on the cruise was both funny and heartwarming. His connection and interaction with Derek was charming. I really would have loved to find out more about Derek’s life.
Despite these positives, I felt unsatisfied at the end of the book.
The premise of the book was about trying to identify what fun really is. After reading this book I didn’t feel like the author gave me an answer. The structure didn’t help. It was written as a journal across 12 months which meant the musings often felt random.
Despite these positives, I felt unsatisfied at the end of the book.
The premise of the book was about trying to identify what fun really is. After reading this book I didn’t feel like the author gave me an answer. The structure didn’t help. It was written as a journal across 12 months which meant the musings often felt random.
September 4, 2023
A light but engaging read. At first I wasn't sure how many of the activities the author was trying out in his pursuit of fun could really be classed as such but as I read on I got the point that one person's idea of fun could very well be completely different from another's and that looking for fun in potentially unlikely places creates a certain amount of paradoxical serendipity.
Aitken loses points for getting the source of the River Wandle wrong and for having too many characters in his books named Rod. I have never met anyone called Rod.
Aitken loses points for getting the source of the River Wandle wrong and for having too many characters in his books named Rod. I have never met anyone called Rod.
October 15, 2023
Found this funny! Saw him speak at the Cheltenham literature festival and loved how entertaining he was so had to buy the book. It’s great to see the impact of doing new stuff can have on people. I’ve been living my life that way for decades so hoping that other pick up his book see that trying new things that are well in grasp with time or money can enable you to lead a happier life… and actually is just as simple as sitting on a park bench or going to a new class. I didn’t give five stars as the ending didn’t seem profound or life changing enough…
November 12, 2024
It was interesting to read some of the many ways Aitken tries to branch out with new experiences. And he does have a comedic way of drawing comparisons - but at times it did get a bit overthought and there are only so many repetitive turns of writing you need, like (making it up here) if fun can be “felt by doing this. And that. And the other. And anything new. And anything you’ve not done for a while. And. And. And…” Poor example I’ve improvved there, but you get the gist. I skimmed one paragraph that was 50% listing things.
August 1, 2023
With the caveat that I read an uncorrected press proof, some of the prose is full of repetitious phrases which probably pad out the word count (the worst is on 12 September) but lose the diary its readability. The explorations into fun - volunteering, staring into space, improv, cruises and summer camps for adults - are sensibly tackled and Ben has an excellent narrative voice.
February 14, 2024
I absolutely loved The Marmalade Diaries by Ben. Since that one, I’ve read A Chip Shop in Poznan and this book and sadly, the Marmalade Diaries was the only one that I enjoyed. This was just dull - which kind of contradicts the title somewhat - and I’m gutted because I always have such high hopes for books by Ben Aitken. Disappointed sadly, sorry Ben :(
December 21, 2023
I very much enjoyed this one. Another reviewer mentioned that there's not much of an overarching thread that ties the whole book together but I think the fact that the book is still very readable despite this is a testament to the author's writing ability.
September 24, 2025
Takes a little while to get going but then either develops a pace or I got used to it! Perhaps it’s just that analysing what fun is is a difficult idea to get your head around initially. Nothing earth shattering in the results of the analysis but an amusing journey to get there :).
March 31, 2026
An easy segue back into nonfiction reading. The book is lighthearted, easy to read and has a nice conversation tone. I enjoyed the author’s goal of seeking out new, novel experiences and documenting his thoughts and reflections. A nice reminder to not take life so seriously.
March 17, 2024
When the book is about fun but the author has a dry, flat style of writing, this felt like a slog..
Want to read
May 2, 2024Hmmm the audio narration could be much more light and fun. I’ll wait to get hold of the book from a library.
May 19, 2024
I can count on Ben Aitken for a really good read. Every time...
August 21, 2024
Pretty funny actually.
January 20, 2025
Ben is charming and the book was sweet.
April 25, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. There are some hilarious moments and witty one liners. It most definitely was a fun read.
January 29, 2024
Very cute book. I've enjoyed his others. Recommended!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews