The More You Ignore Me...

by Jo Brand

“Seriously Funny.”— The Mirror (UK) Book of the Week The funniest and most original import from Britain since Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Jo Brand’s The More You Ignore Me manages to be both poignant and darkly comic at the same time. Actress and comedienne Brand—well known to viewers in the States from her work in Absolutely Fabulous —delivers an outrageous coming-of-age story in the tradition of the Adrian Mole novels, full of dysfunctional family life and celebrity obsession in the 1980s.

Genres: Fiction, Mental Illness, Contemporary, Mental Health, Young Adult, Humor

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Josephine "Jo" Grace Brand is a BAFTA winning English stand-up comedienne, writer and actress.
Commencing her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand up scene and early performances on Saturday Live, she went on to appearances on The Brain Drain, Channel 4's Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, Getting On and various television appearances including as a regular guest on QI. In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILLIANT!!!!

An utterly tragic comedy, full of heartbreaking and also lol moments. Jo Brand has captured a snapshot of life and those affected by mental illness, with clarity and heart.

I loved every minute of it and can't wait to see the movie. This is a must read book for all. X

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had some bad experiences with books written by people who are famous for being funny (word of warning, Dawn French writes terrible fiction in my opinion) so I approached Jo Brand's novel 'The More you Ignore Me' with some trepidation. Brand is almost as famous for having been a mental health nurse before her stand up career as she is for her love of cake but I found whilst I was reading this that I totally forgot who the writer was because she doesn't attempt to 'brand' the book (see what I did there?) with her own special quirkiness. Instead what you get is not Jo Brand pretending to be an author, but a book by a very competent author who just happens to be Jo Brand.

I grew up in the countryside at about the same time as the protagonist, Alice. Not the same part of the countryside but country ways are recognisable. I recalled the stench of urine in public phone booths and a life before mobile communications when you got places on the bus or in the back of somebody's beat up old van. Thankfully my mother is as sane as they come but I found Alice's mother with her severe mental health issues to be entertaining and endearing and her long suffering father to be very real too. Having read the prologue, I knew that a film is being made with Sheridan Smith as the mother, and so it was her I had in my mind throughout the book - and she fitted SO well.

Jo Brand is a decade older than me but her protagonist is a little younger so all the cultural references worked for me. The tortured obsession for Morrissey, the incessant play-and-play-again of the album that 'speaks to you like no other' and the twin challenges of dealing with yourself and your crazy family were all very charming. I even liked her mum's crazy, violent, yobbish family.

It's a sweet story, a fun story, and one with some big issues at its core about family love and support. I enjoyed it a lot and I'd read Brand again.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Jo Brand is a former psychiatric nurse-turned comedian-turned writer. Her first novel is about Alice, whose mum Gina suffers from schizophrenia. She's in and out of the mental hospital, and when she's heavily medicated, she's a shadow of her former self.

Alice and her dad Keith do their best to care for her and love her--but she's not terribly unlovable. Finally, Alice conspires to give Gina a break from her medication, and all hell breaks loose. Gina's form of mental illness is to fixate and obsess on a particular man, convinced that they are meant for each other. This time, Gina's target of affection is Alice's own obsession, Morrissey from the rock band, The Smiths.

In the Herefordshire countryside, Alice and her family are surrounded by Alice's school mates, a horrible bully, Gina's crazy family (aptly named the Wildgooses), Keith's social-climbing parents, and the family doctor (named Marie!), who is in love with Alice's dad.

The book veers into slapstick and tries to accomplish way too much at times (with bunches of side storylines), but Brand handles the subject matter sensitively and wisely. She gives insight into what it would be like to live with a mentally ill mother (or wife), and she manages to make Gina into a sympathetic figure, even as she is difficult and unlikable.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine people who read this book will either love it or hate it. I loved it. It was bittersweet, charming & funny in a British way & I love me a good Brit-lit book. Loads of "wanker" & "bollocks" all over the place. I read one reviewer who gave it 1 star because she couldn't understand British slang. If you don't know what "starkers" means or "taking the mickey/and or piss'' then 1) you need to read more, 2) you have no imagination & 3) have you heard of this little thing called Google? Jeez. Though the book is about a family who has to deal with one of their relatives suffering from mental illness which is a serious & sad topic, the author didn't write it seriously nor sadly. She wrote it with humor & odd characters & threw in loads of Morrissey mentions as there are a couple of Morrissey addicts in the story. I'll gladly read anything else this author writes as she put a smile on my face for the few hours it took me to read this book.

[Erica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so disappointing! It was not at all as I expected and the characters were so under-developed. There was so much more the author could have done with this book, unfortunately she left so much to be desired. The ending was likely the worst part of the book. It was so completely random and in my opinion did not align with my impressions of what the characters would have wanted, let alone what they would have done.
I would not recommend this book to a friend

[Judith Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book it made me laugh then cry then laugh again. It had a crazy end but then again this is fiction and sometimes life is even crazier. This book had the right balance for me it gave me an insight into what it must be like for families living with mental illness but also showed the funny side as well as the sad side of this life. I read an awful lot of books as I am retired and it has been a while that since a book made me cry and even rarer laugh out loud. Thankyou Jo

[Margaret Galbraith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. A few chapters in I was engrossed by this totally dysfunctional family. Gina, Alice’s mother has a mental illness which due to medication has left her almost comatose. Her daughter Alice becomes obsessed by Morrissey from The Smiths band who has since gone out on his own. She writes to him and is surprised to receive a reply. She covers her room in posters of him from New Musical Express but her most treasured item is the letter. Mark her school friend sticks by Alice through thick and thin as he doesn’t have a great family life either.

Both Keith, her dad and Alice decide to ask Gina’s doctor if she can come off or lower her medication to maybe try to help her have a better life and that’s when the “s%^* hits the fan” so to speak. It’s a bit sad and very funny in parts but all in all a good story. I could almost hear Jo Brand’s voice (the author) narrate it in her calm voice. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her in “Getting on” her tv programme about being a nurse in a geriatric ward. She was a nurse in psychiatric wards before she became a stand up comedian and actress so she has gained plenty of knowledge in that field. I had no idea how this book would end but it’s great for everyone and has a few surprises too ... enjoy!

[janet clegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5* love Jo Brand

I can relate to this one in many way as a mental health nurse.
Gina is very unwell and the family focus is with her, the Wildgooses are hilarious in many ways but tragic in others
Alice her obsession with Morrissey (soon to become her mum's too) is clambering her way through life with a parent with mental health issues. Hilariously funny in parts and tragic in others. Well worth reading. Nice one Jo you captured it!!!

[Libbeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Described as wickedly funny and hilarious by various reviewers on and within the book covers but I'm afraid that, although I could see what was intended to be funny, I felt too much sadness for the characters to laugh at them. A good read but not a hilarious read. More poignant than hilarious.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the child of a schizophrenic who grew up during roughly the same time period, I was able to heavily relate to this story and thus enjoyed it very much. The writing wasn't especially great, but to me that didn't matter.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read, which is a good thing because the ending is so absurd and unrealistic I'm glad not to have spent days and days leading up to it.

[Val Penny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book as I usually like Jo Brand and her humour very much. However, this book was hugely disappointing! The characters were so under-developed, cardboard. The only part of the book I enjoyed was the end. However, it was so completely random and did not align with my impressions of what the characters have done.

It is a novel about mental illness, growing up, and celebrity obsession but, the description of mental illness, if it is to be humorous must be dealt with delicately and with sensitivity. There is none of this here.

The story is about Alice’s family, tucked away in a cottage in the deepest part of Herefordshire, England. It is more than a bit weird. Her mother, Gina, suffers from a mental illness. She is obsessed with the weatherman on the local news, and when she climbs onto the roof naked with her daughter’s pet guinea pig in her arms, she is whisked off to the local psychiatric hospital. Keith, Alice’s father, tries to keep calm, but his patience is being severely tested by his in-laws, whose behaviour terrifies the community.

Alice is convinced she needs five personalities to cope because a mother-daughter reconciliation seems impossible. At this point, the stage may be set for even more heartbreak than Alice can imagine.

I wish I could tell you that I enjoyed this book, but I did not. I cannot recommend it.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This was definitely different from my usual YA fantasy fare. It was more like the books I read when I was a teenager. It's described on the back as in "the tradition of the Adrian Mole novels" and I got that impression right off. It was like a cross of Adrian Mole and Susan Juby's Alice, I Think.

The More You Ignore Me was very poignant. It was sad in places, and funny in others. Alice grows up in an odd life, with two parents around but her mom has mentally checked out. After an obsession with the local weatherman and an incident of nudity on the roof, her mom has been placed on a heavy course of drugs to tamp down on her schizophrenic tendencies (it's the 70's so the diagnoses is uncertain). Consequently, Alice tends to dampened down her emotions so though things happen to her, the book reads like it is far away from these events, like Alice is not really involved.

I enjoyed this book. I liked Alice and felt sorry for her whole family. I thought her mother's family was funny and was amused by her love of Morrissey. I liked her dad and I really wanted the best for everyone. This was a good read and I'm glad I got it.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally picked up this book because I saw that the amazing comedienne Jo Brand was the author, but then I started reading. Unlike a lot of famous TV personalities that try their hand at another skill, leading only to failure, Jo Brand shows that she could have made her fame through her writing.

By writing what she knows (basing the story around a mental illness when she used to be a physiatric nurse) the story jumps out of the page and tugs at your heartstrings, Gina feels like a real person, not just the nutcase that leads the story from one point to another.

It was also refreshing to read the story from the family's point of view as well as snippets of Gina's. I was in love with the sub plots that showed the normality of the family, despite the obvious upheaval in their lives.

I was, however, disappointed in the ending. The last line was genius but the final chapter titled 'finale' was a bit of a disappointment compared to the rest of the novel. I personally would have preferred to see more of the relationship between Alice and Mark, the proposal between Keith and Marie and the meeting of Dunk and Bighead and Wobbly.

Despite the ending the novel was one of the best that I've read in a long time and would definitely recommend it.

[Patricia Scaife · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of a woman's declining mental health and how it is dealt with by her husband and her young daughter. The story revolves particularly around the daughter growing up. It made me think hard about how different people deal with mental health issues, including the medical profession and I'm wondering if a lack of knowledge is sometimes a good thing and more can be achieved if more (or sometimes less) is expected of a person with mental health. I laughed and cried, and one of the best bits for me was that though improbable, unbelievable and very unlikely to happen in real life, it had a happy ending.

[Katie Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant, it's so clever and super funny. The way it portrays mental illness is done is a very hilarious way but still tasteful. The protagonist, Alice, is such a beautiful and diverse character. I found her relatable and as I read on and on, I cared for her greatly and I cared for her and if she would development the same mental illness as her mother! Fantastic read, and I'd even love to see this made into a movie.

[rachelraven · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, not surprising or life changing.

[Leanne Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody brilliant read. Quite relatable in parts. Compelling book

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional. Finished in a day, laughed and cried. Jo Brand is a marvel.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be so frustrating, the first 75% of the book was on track to be a favourite but I felt the ending was terrible.

It is a very cleverly written book, Jo Brand's experience of working with people who have mental health issues shines through in her compassionate and accurate portrayal of Gina. For the majority of the book the focus is on the impact that Gina's mental illness has upon her Husband Keith and Daughter Alice with little focus given to Gina. Particularly interesting was the impact that it had upon Alice and Alice's increased awareness of her own mental health as a result. It isn't until much later on in the book that Gina's feelings are considered and this is dealt with both delicately and realistically.

I really enjoyed reliving my teen years through this book, where the internet didn't exist and if you saw a band perform on the TV that you liked you'd have to hope they were in that weeks music publications to find out more about them. Alice's obsession with Morrissey allows the reader to remember the teenage years of projecting your own feelings and life on to a person you've never met and imagining them to be the most perfect person to exist.

It's a beautifully written book and on the whole it is wonderfully edited too, every bit of the book feels necessary and important...until the end. I don't want to give away spoilers but the ending was terrible and took away from the important messages featuring throughout the rest of the book. This book deserved a much better ending, it was as though the author had ran out of words so just quickly finished it off. I also didn't like how Gina changed when she met Dunk, i felt that it cheapened the mental health message, she wouldn't just get better because she met someone new, she was still clearly very ill at this point and to have her living unmedicated after having been medicated for so long was simply unrealistic.

I loved this book until the last quarter, it was well written, compassionate and realistic but the ending spoilt the book for me and felt rushed and ill thought-out I'd still recommend this book to others but be prepared to find the ending frustrating.

[Nicola Southall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first I heard about this book was a mention of the film on the radio. I like Jo Brand but have never considered looking at books she’s written although I know she had.
I love the Smiths and Morrissey so the idea of the book made me smile.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the beginning that much and thought I would be disappointed but stuck with it as Alice got older I got more into the book. It didn’t make me laugh out loud but it did make me smile and chuckle. I could relate to The Smiths/Morrissey obsession...not sure I took the obsession as far as they did!
I love that her mom then got into Morrissey and it almost helped her illness. I like the way her illness was explained in the book and how it affected her and the whole family.
I think people will either love or hate this book not much middle ground. If people don’t like or know anything about the Smiths then they really may not connect as much. All the lyrics started me singing along in my head. I remember nights listening to them over and over in my room.
Unusually as much as I’d really enjoyed he book by the end I think I will enjoy the film more and can’t wait to see it.
Relived my youth a little and the book made me smile.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I loved it so much that I had to keep taking breaks because I couldn't bear to finish it so soon.
I picked it up because I thought it was an autobiography, imagine my surprise when I found it was a novel involving Morrissey.

I felt drawn to the characters and the intricate, emotionally conflicting relationships that existed between them. Some of the characters I hated, some I was really fond of.


The final chapter was a bit random, but I was pleased with a happy ending. The final sentence really surprised me and I was left thinking, should he tell her? Although Alice was devastated about the letter being eaten, I felt she had accepted its loss and it was better she never knew who wrote it. Although I was disappointed she never received a genuine letter, I thought it was incredibly sweet what Mark did for her.

I don't really have much more to say about it, but I plan to keep this in my collection and read it again.

[Nikki Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

💬 “Sure enough, there was Gina, on the roof - minus her clothes - holding the guinea pig.”

💬 “Keith thought that cousin Lesley’s pale skinned, gawky offspring were as dull as they come and that rather than dressing prettily, they both looked like anorexic toilet roll covers.”

This comedy read was heart-breaking and hilarious.

The big issue of mental illness, that this book surrounds was done so brilliantly and beautifully, being both sad and funny.

Such a dysfunctional group of people, yet you couldn’t have pictured any of them, any other way - they were all so loveable, in their own crazy different ways.

I loved Alice’s character - her resilience especially, I admired.

The last line in this book had me at tears (even though I hand an inkling, it still got me good!) 🥹

This has also been made into a movie and I will definitely be giving this a watch!

[Amanda Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A feel-good story

Mental illness and it's effects are often funny and dark at the same time.
This is shown fairly well in the book, though real life is often funnier, always darker.

I did enjoy the book but it's a bit like watching Pretty Women because the ending is unrealistic. Or maybe it's not meant to be an ending; rather a beginning of a new chapter of chaos.

It's a nice read. It's a novel, a story. If you read it expecting an in-depth look at mental illness and it's effects then you'll be disappointed.

My review is not meant to sound negative; I really did enjoy the book!I

My 1 lacking star comes, I think, from my own story, my own chaos, the hurt I've caused my family and the lack of my own happy ending

[Geoff Warden · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the sublime to the ridiculous! (I had just finished reading "Anna Karenin"!) Another celebrity written book and sadly another disappointment.

Marketed as a “comic novel” I found very little to laugh at in this tale of an angst ridden teenager, living in a disfunctional family, with a mother in and out of a psychiatric unit and a couple of neanderthal uncles prone to irrational outbursts of violence. The music of Morrisey and the Smiths features heavily, quite a clever device but not totally convincing.

Brand draws heavily on her experience as a psychiatric nurse, but I felt the novel as a whole was sloppily written, with parts which didn’t feel fully developed and an ending which was so sudden and trite to spoil the experience of reading it.

[Valsala Rajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been under the impression that I like quirky - the pleasantly odd, a la "The Man who climbed out the Window' and The 'Olive Kitteridge' novels. But it turns out that some kinds of quirky don't satisfy me. This was an ok read and certainly a fast one. Nevertheless, I was left with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction and a sense of pointlessness. It neither moved me - it should have, given the subject was to do with mental illness nor did it give me any LOL moments. None of the characters seemed to arouse much empathy either. Perhaps the entire situation was too far removed from my reality.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book - Jo Brand is one of my favourite speakers, and I too was a teenage Morrissey obsessive. Unfortunately this book just didn’t fulfil its potential for me. I found some of the plot details unlikely, and I found it hard to really get under the skin of many of the characters. The tone was also uneven - I felt disorientated by the swings from harrowing realism to farcical comedy.

[Suzanne Seyghal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ridiculous ending spoils the book

Book was ok and reasonably entertaining, and the characters were fairly interesting. But the ending felt like the author had got bored of her own story and tried to tie everything up as quickly, far-fetchedly and unsophisticatedly as possible. Felt a real let down and out of keeping with the rest of the book.

[Beverley Arthurs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it but probably for the wrong reasons; certainly made me go down memory lane when Jo mentioned various locations and I probably spent too much time thinking which way they were travelling down the road.

Pretty ridiculous ending, but at least it tied the ends up nicely! Don't think I will bother going to see the film.

[John Marr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although I think Brand accurately depicts the unique bond of Morrissey with his fans and displays some knowledge of mental illness, this book is completely scattershot, sometimes trying to be funny and failing, other times trying to be serious and only succeeding in being trying. And the ending is enough to make a psychiatrist contemplate murder.