definitely recommended for your Xmas stocking!
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I really enjoyed this book and parts of it did make me laugh out loud! I love Guy's wry sense of humour and being a Botley-onian myself, had to smile about his description of Botley... it really isn't all that bad! Having met the Fatted Calf, I can confirm that he is much nicer in real life!
I'd definitely recommend getting this if you enjoy reading about other peoples' lives, although I wouldn't agree that the sense of humour is in anyway smug, or annoying (thats just being plain rude!) Anyway, if you enjoy a good, undemanding read, this is the book for you.
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A genuinely funny book
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I loved this book. After reading far too many books that reviewers have described as hilarious but have failed raise a smile, never mind a chortle, I found Maps of my Life to be genuinely very funny.
Humour is a subjective thing but I enjoyed every page of this book. The stories about the authors childhood misadventures, usually caused by his older brother, the Fatted Calf, are excellent reading. Chapters about his brothers make-over of their front garden and the school skiing trip are particularly entertaining.
Those expecting a book about maps, as the title would indicate, will be disappointed as the maps in question are there to illustrate where the events of the following chapter take place. These maps though are also amusing as they are wittily annotated and add to the overall entertainment value of the book.
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a slight caveat to previous reviews
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I got this book for the maps,for the concept. I like what the author has done here and only wish I had come up with the idea first, but in the end, rather like John O'Farrell, the endless attempts to be funny become a tad tiresome.
Having said that he can be laugh out loud funny, and this is an antidote to all those books that "celebrate" a miserable childhood, but for me the overall sheen of smugness just takes away a bit, hence the loss of a star.
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Maps of My Life
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'Maps are things of great beauty' says Guy Browning. In this very funny book you accompany Guy Browning in his journey from childhood to young man and see that life is indeed a thing of beauty and humour too. A great read by a great author who has the ability to see the funny side of life when sometimes 'beyond the horizon turns out not to be very nice'!
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Laugh-aloud memories of a 60s and 70s family life.
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I bought this just a couple of days ago in my local bookshop as a present for my brother on the strength of the review in Arena magazine but I started to read it and, although it is not my usual type of reading matter, I am keeping the original copy. Hence I'm here ordering another for my brother.
Opening the book for a quick peek, I laughed aloud at the first page which was a pretty impressive start. Browning, like me, was a second child and says:
"I wasn't the first child. It's difficult to write that and somehow not feel that you've failed in something important." ...... "Second children are like second marriages: you know that in general they're worth having but you've also learned from your first how messy and unpleasant they can be."
The characters in this book are Browning's parents and siblings, and the whole book is a humorous and witty take on his childhood, the places his family lived and the trips and holidays they made. Although a different location (in fact many including the US, Italy, France and Spain as well as the UK) and a different era (Browning was born in the 1960s), his good-natured humour and obvious affection for his family reminds me of the Gerald Durrell's reflections on his early life.
Absolutely brilliant!
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