Grumpy Old Men, the Official Handbook

I didn't watch the TV series so I thought this was just going to be a humerous read. However, there is a little (OK only a little) depth behind the book. Yes, it's funny to relate to the author's ranting, but it also makes you realise the context of some of your frustrations with the world. It's OK to be a grumpy man; it's a phase of life when you realise the world isn't as good a place as you were brought up to hope for.

I read this book at the same time as I was reading "You can't afford the luxury of a negative thought", and this provided a nice counterpoint. To be honest I got more out of grumpy old men than out of that 'self-help' book.

So, funny AND self-help: what more could you want for in a book?

Good, but didn't quite hit the mark. (18/18 people found this helpful)

Having only caught and enjoyed the occasional snippet of an episode of this TV program I was pleased to see the accompanying book, and quickly and eagerly snapped it up.
For the first fifty or so pages the book delivered exactly what I expected it to, that being sensible but frustrating observations on everyday life through the eyes of a mature, intelligent and discontented man. This is the kind of thing that makes my thoughts and hang ups seem justifiable, in that I am not alone. However the problem is that the ranting becomes predictable and musty. We have all heard the complaints about the school run mothers, the tattoo enthusiasts and the cell phone obsessive. I would have liked the gripes to be a little fresher. My other slight complain is that I could not relate to some of the situations described. I guess it's difficult to please all of the people and to cover every life style.
I think my problem may have been that I expected too much. I wanted it to support more of my own pet hates, and it didn't. I think it would call for a much weightier volume to achieve that!
As a light and amusing read I recommend it. If you don't like it then you will at least have something else to complain about.

WTF! (2/46 people found this helpful)

Who wants to know what they think?! its been on tv now thats enough! Spend ya money on something better!

Grumpy Old Men - the Official Rant (23/26 people found this helpful)

This, of course, is the official tie-in publication to the two BBC TV series, the second of which finished just before Christmas.

Contrary to the impression given by the cover photographs of Messrs Smith, Peel, Wakeman and McGrath on the cover this is not just a repeat of the script and interviews shown on the TV programmes; in fact the celebrity quotations from their interviews are used very sparingly, as headings more than anything else. Instead this is writer/producer Stuart Prebble's more personal thesis on his own experience as a grumpy old man - as you read it it's not Geoffrey Palmer's voice you hear at all and it's not intended to be (but in my case it could have been Arthur Smith's).

After the introductory chapters as to how the series came to fruition, and the technical definition of grumpies and their likely early life experiences, the bulk of the book, "So What Are We Grumpy About?" takes us through an average day in Prebble's life and is an extended rant about everything in that timespan that annoys him, from the BBC World Service that he tunes into when he wakes up in the early hours of the morning and can't get back to sleep, through such things as getting to work, parking, shopping, DIY, the nanny state, cinemas, going out to dinner parties, and insomnia at the end of the day. He is considerate enough to devote a short chapter at the end to ponder the effects of his grumpiness on his friends and family.

Reading this you find yourself agreeing with a lot of what he feels - in fact if it weren't so true it would be very funny. As it was I ended up feeling slightly guilty and embarassed for him, actually not something that I felt watching the thing on TV. There the bile being spent was enlivened by the celebrity interviews (even Will Self's), but in cold black print it became a bit indigestible, so I couldn't read it all in one go, a feat more understandable with the like of "The Decline And Fall..." rather than the 200 pages of "Grumpy Old Men".

Still, this is a worthwhile purchase and, as I observed when reviewing the "unofficial" publication with a similar title last year, it is especially useful to anyone younger than the arbitrary 35-50 year-olds that are supposed to be GOMs, so that they realise what irritates us so, and perhaps can guard against following suit. And at the end of it all at least Prebble, and Arthur Smith, recognise what pains they are - what they really can't stand is grumpy old men moaning on and on about everything around them!

Not as Good as the TV Series (3/7 people found this helpful)

I was a bit disappointed by this book - the author comes over as rather more bitter than grumpy, and not nearly so humorous as the celebs featured in the TV programme. Too much ranting and not enough irony.

P.S. nice bit of pedantry with "culs-de-sac", but _nul points_ for the obviously wrong definition of "zero-sum game".

Grumpy Old Men, the Official Handbook

Stuart Prebble

Reader Reviews:

Funny and interesting (23/23 people found this helpful)

Good, but didn't quite hit the mark. (18/18 people found this helpful)

WTF! (2/46 people found this helpful)

Grumpy Old Men - the Official Rant (23/26 people found this helpful)

Not as Good as the TV Series (3/7 people found this helpful)

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