As the author of All Ears will freely admit, there s nothing dignified about listening to other people s conversations, especially if these are thrust upon us as we stand in crowded London bus, packed sardine-style with complete strangers shouting into their mobile phones. No one, however, has ever attempted to raise eavesdropping to an art form, or recognize what verbal gems are being thrown around us every minute of our waking urban existence. Gathered for the first time in a volume, and accompanied by Andy Watt s iconic illustrations, are Michael Holden s hit stolen dialogues , which readers of the Saturday Guardian where they were serialized since April 2005 will immediately recognize. The locations vary ranging from Scotland to the South Coast but the focus is on the teeming city of London, with its noisy and multifarious inhabitants, directly presented here in all its quirkiness, showing how unusual and unscriptable everyday conversation can at times be. The book includes previously unpublished vignettes, fifteen colour illustrations by Andy Watt, scene-setting descriptions for each dialogue and a map identifying the location of each conversation.
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I started as a casual reader, but now I'm hooked, and regularly turn to it first -- Andrew Davies
About the Author
Michael Holden was born in 1970 and lives in London, where he works as writer and journalist. All Ears is his first book and he is currently at work on a novel.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ever sat on a train and eaves-dropped on a conversation between strangers?
23 Jan 2008
Format:Hardcover
Ever sat on a train and eaves-dropped on a conversation between strangers?
Course you have! Well so has the writer of this book, and he's written an entire book based on his prying.
But whereas you or I would perhaps hear a couple of snatched sentences and shirk away for fear of being discovered, here the writer has gone the whole hog and listened in on entire conversations.
It's a similar concept to the Overhead-In-New-York website, but here the writer has contextualized the conversations with his own descriptions and prose, which are often caustically witty and just a little misanthropic.
All Ears is laugh-loud funny, surreal and, yes, even thought-provoking.
As the book demonstrates that if you study the banalities of everyday life closely enough, you can find the truly bizarre and fascinating.
Course you have! Well so has the writer of this book, and he's written an entire book based on his prying.
But whereas you or I would perhaps hear a couple of snatched sentences and shirk away for fear of being discovered, here the writer has gone the whole hog and listened in on entire conversations.
It's a similar concept to the Overhead-In-New-York website, but here the writer has contextualized the conversations with his own descriptions and prose, which are often caustically witty and just a little misanthropic.
All Ears is laugh-loud funny, surreal and, yes, even thought-provoking.
As the book demonstrates that if you study the banalities of everyday life closely enough, you can find the truly bizarre and fascinating.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
this is a great and unusual book. perfect for the smallest room in the house. this book changed the way i feel when trapped on a bus or train and subjected to other peoples conversations. now i find myself thinking "could michael use this".
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Since he and his little buddies started a magazine called Loaded way back when, Michael Holden has been known for his sideways look on events and wry humour. I guess matching Jonny Rotten drink for drink in LA or interviewing supermodels in the back of limos has palled on him- these days apparently he's taking a back seat to events a little more, and has been amusing himself by listening in on people's conversations and recording them for articles in the Guardian. This is the kind of thing which might be mildly diverting at the best of times, but here Holden has tweaked it into a neat little piece of social anthropology.
To some people, it will be a reassuring and entertaining confirmation of the world they live in, and to those who don't live local, it will be something totally other. Anything that encourages us to take a second look at what we would usually ignore as banal, unsettling, or irritating can only be a good thing.
Recommended for reading in crowded public places- as, inspired, you can tune in to what people are saying around you.
To some people, it will be a reassuring and entertaining confirmation of the world they live in, and to those who don't live local, it will be something totally other. Anything that encourages us to take a second look at what we would usually ignore as banal, unsettling, or irritating can only be a good thing.
Recommended for reading in crowded public places- as, inspired, you can tune in to what people are saying around you.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it
If you've ever read Michael Holden's "All Ears" column in the Guardian Guide you'll love this collection. Read more
Published 4 months ago by jellery
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eaves Dropping Masterpiece
We've all had moments where we've eavesdropped on interesting and hilarious conversations, but Michael Holden takes it to another level, deliberately trying to tune in to those... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr Underground
5.0 out of 5 stars
hilarious
There's nowt as queers as folk as I believe they say in Yorkshire and Michael Holden's utterly hilarious collection of overheard conversations is evidence of this fact.
Published on 2 Mar 2009 by J. A. E. Matthews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dissapointingly dire
I was really relishing this book, expecting the author to have amassed a bulging folder of hilarious surrealism and stupidity, leaving the reader chortling and musing that 'there's... Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2009 by S. Dedman
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dull & disappointing
I had great expectations of this book but two thirds of the way through, I am on the verge of giving up on it. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2007 by Mr. D. R. Goodwin
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