- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Granta Books (2 Nov 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1862078831
- ISBN-13: 978-1862078833
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 472,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
I suspect [this book] might change our world... it details, in shocking and visceral and wincingly recognisable fashion the way in which we are treated, by government and advertising and people who write signs and, well, everyone really, as if we are all mewling infants who have to be told, essentially, look look shiny shiny coin coin every forlorn second of every babyish day. --The Observer
Sharp, very funny and slightly disturbing...it is hard to know which group should be more despised: that which bosses and patronises with its imprudent warnings or that which feebly acquiesces. But one thing is certain: neither is likely to read Big Babies, for it is far too intelligent, witty and original to appeal to any of these infantile minds...Bywater must be our leader, Big Babies our bible. --The Telegraph
Michael Bywater [is] a wonderfully sharp and witty writer, whose sentences sing and dance, whose fluffiest paragraphs are held up by a steal core of thought. --The Scotsman
Sharp, very funny and slightly disturbing...it is hard to know which group should be more despised: that which bosses and patronises with its imprudent warnings or that which feebly acquiesces. But one thing is certain: neither is likely to read Big Babies, for it is far too intelligent, witty and original to appeal to any of these infantile minds...Bywater must be our leader, Big Babies our bible. --The Telegraph
Michael Bywater [is] a wonderfully sharp and witty writer, whose sentences sing and dance, whose fluffiest paragraphs are held up by a steal core of thought. --The Scotsman
Christopher Fowler
"Raises serious social issues while cracking plenty of willy
jokes"
jokes"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some good ideas, but not enough for a full-length book,
By
This review is from: Big Babies: Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up? (Hardcover)
I greatly enjoyed Bywater's Lost Worlds, his collection of little elegaic pieces on things that have vanished from the UK (ranging from 'Adolescents, Envy of', and 'Bakelite' to 'Warm, The British' and 'Throat, Cigarette Smoke That Was Kind To Your'). Accordlingly, I had high hopes for "Big Babies", believing that it would be a cut above the rest of the everything-is-rubbish books that are currently all the rage.It makes a good start, as Bywater presents the thesis that we've become 'infantilized', unwilling to take responsibility for our actions, unable to make sensible choices, not wanting to question what we're told, etc. He backs this up with some standard complaints about things like over-legislation and safety notices; although this has all been said before, it's useful to hear it again (at one point, just after I'd read his indictment of a hot water tap to which had been affixed a "CAUTION: Hot water" notice, I looked up from the book and saw a tap with a label reading... "CAUTION: Very hot water"). He also references my personal peeve in this area - i.e., notices that say things like "Our staff have a right to work in a stress-free environment, and we shall proscute anyone who assaults them" - doubtless well-intentioned, but could anyone seriously imagine that they'd make a would-be assailant (even if literate) think twice about their actions? However, although Bywater's a good writer, he doesn't really develop this idea, and I got a bit tired of the continued re-iteration of this theme, beginning to think that there really wasn't enough material here to warrant a full-length book. Perhaps the same message could have been delivered more usefully as an article - indeed, his suggestions about how to break out of the infantile condition are crisply presented in his last few pages; if a similar terseness had been used throughout, it would have had greater impact, I think.
20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rallying cry, set to music by wit,
By Phoenicopter (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Big Babies: Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up? (Hardcover)
Not to be mistaken for a grumpy old man rant, nor the affable malignity of light weight attacks on our culture, this is a serious but beautifully observed lament for the loss of our autonomy, hilarious in its dire examples of how we are diminished by the plethora of warnings, notices, inducements that litter our daily lives. With Bywater's help we can stay alert to the seductive charmlessness of remaining forever in a child like state of obedience, silliness, and acceptance of presciptive behaviour and can avoid the folly of lifelong immaturity and irresponsibility.For all those adventurers who have never worn their baseball caps backwards, nor thought of remaining on the escalator once it has reached the next floor and will risk buying Christmas crackers without fear of 'explosive content'.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Editorial stretched to book length,
By
This review is from: Big Babies: Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up? (Paperback)
Had Big Babies been an editorial piece in a newspaper it would have been a thought provoking and funny piece. Indeed Michael Bywater raises the point that while many problems are discussed for the downfall of modern society the root cause is that we are treated increasingly like big babies.It's an interesting idea and there are a few laughs along the way, but it's job done by page 10 and yet on and on it rambles for 250 pages. It's hard to keep up that level of indignation for that long but credit where credit's due Bywater achieves this. It becomes a polemic for the sake of itself. The theory gets over stretched and the book suffers from major repetition. At times it's even self contradictory- he doesn't like books telling you what to think and moaning about the modern world as he then goes on to do both. He doesn't even like Amazon's review system- which means the 5 star reviews are going against the ethos of the book they so enjoyed. Bottom line this book is not meant to change the world but be interesting and humorous and due to its length it ends up being neither.
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