Greeting the 500: Amazon.co.uk: Jules Segal: Books

Book Description

Publication Date: 20 July 2007

Chris Martin agreed. Wayne Rooney declined. Joan Collins
didn't bother to reply.When Jules Segal makes a bet with his mate over a
few pints in his local his main aim is to prove that celebrities aren't the
self-obsessed egocentrics that we all believe them to be. His secondary one
is to avoid the unpleasant list of forfeits he will have to endure should
he fail in his quest.

The task is simple: meet and shake hands with as many celebrities from a
pre-agreed list as possible - while avoiding being thrown into prison on
grounds of stalking. Easy, right? But did Jules succeed in his mission? Or
did he spend the next twelve months cleaning the loo in his mate's bachelor
pad as punishment for his failure?

Join our star-struck author as he travels the length and breadth of the
country in search of celebrities and their hands...

Special guest stars include Cherie Blair, Alan Titchmarsh, Andrew Marr, Bob
Holness, Chris Martin, Derren Brown, Iain Banks, Gary Lineker, Jimmy Carr,
John Major, Jonathan Ross, Mike Leigh, Richard Hammond, Sir Ian McKellen,
Tom Baker and many, many more.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } Chris Martin agreed. Wayne Rooney declined. Joan Collins
didn't bother to reply.When Jules Segal makes a bet with his mate over a
few pints in his local his main aim is to prove that celebrities aren't the
self-obsessed egocentrics that we all believe them to be. His secondary one
is to avoid the unpleasant list of forfeits he will have to endure should
he fail in his quest.

Join our star-struck author as he travels the length and breadth of the
country in search of celebrities and their hands...

Product details

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: The Friday Project Limited (20 July 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1905548591
ISBN-13: 978-1905548590
Product Dimensions: 13.9 x 21.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,950,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly amusing account of a rather silly enterprise 14 Aug 2007

By Contentcritic

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're a fan of Tony Hawks or Dave Gorman and their random activities, then you'll be a fan of Jules Segal's latest attempt to prove his old friend Michael wrong, this time regarding the arena of celebrities and their altruism (or lack thereof) to their fellow humankind. Disturbingly addictive, I read this in three sittings and often laughing out loud. A definite buy and great for the summer holidays.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable! 4 Oct 2007

By M & L

Format:Hardcover

One man's mission to prove that celebrity doesn't necessarily mean ego with (amongst other things) the threat of facing your fears whilst carrying out numerous scary (and downright humiliating) forfeits.

A fools errand? Perhaps, but Jules' account of his attempt to win a drunken pub bet to shake the hands of 100 or more of 500 famous Brits makes for a fine read. Jules' writing style is very easy going and I read the book in under 2 days. There are numerous funny moments in the book which will make you chuckle as you race to the end and find out whether he wins the bet (or whether he has to face his fears and ride Britain's highest roller coaster).

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Stuff! Not my words... 22 Aug 2007

By Pedantic Prudence

Format:Hardcover

This book made me chuckle aloud on a number of occasions. How Jules managed to hold down his job at the same time as scurrying all over the country meeting random celebrities I'll never know, but as the tale moves along one finds oneself rooting for our young self-effacing hero in his quest to prove his know-it-all mate wrong. And the 'individuals of note in their profession' prove themselves to be nice and normal, with many of them cheerily getting into the spirit of the thing.

It is worth reading for Will Self's rejection letter alone.

Four stars from me (one star taken off for the shocking abundance of typos).

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughed, I nearly Shat 26 July 2007

By Gavin Tudor

Format:Hardcover

Hysterically funny book. I'd forgotten about this guy, but remembered being an avid reader of his website whilst he was involved in the bet.

Glad to see that he didnt let me down and actually made it all sound even funnier. An ideal buy for anyone who is fascinated by the present day Celebrity Culture. And wants to laugh at it!

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful. 11 Feb 2010

By R. Lowther

Format:Hardcover

Tony Hawkes, Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace have a lot to answer for. Between them they developed the 'bar bet' into a literary form, taking one silly bet and expanding on it in a very humours manner, often with laugh out moments that caused the reader as much embarrassment on the train to work, as the forfeit would have caused the author had they lost their bets.

Unfortunately they encouraged the less talented to write about their drunken antics; for every Tony, Dave or Danny there is a Jules. His madcap 'bar bet' feels contrived and his writing style is that of a second rate Bob Monkhouse, with poor one-line jokes on nearly every page. These and his other off topic diatribes distract from any interest you may have had in seeing if his quest was successful.

After the first few pages, I bet that you will to skip through the pages to the end to see if he is successful rather than continue to read a book that really could have done with a really good editor, to reduce it in length and to focus the author on the matter in hand.

No wonder I found the book in the bargain bin of my local bookshop

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

4.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight but surprisingly readable 15 Oct 2007

By greg lowery

Format:Hardcover

while hardly being a wheighty tome that Dostoyevsky or Dickens might have written - and im sure Jules himself would admit to that - I did nevertheless find this book to be great fun.

I suppose its not every day that you read an account by a member of Joe Public about how Coldplay's Chris Martin was sitting on their living room coffe table discussing animal welfare.

I'd say that this book might appeal to a slightly younger audience, perhaps not one to buy grandad at Christmas, as the frequent humourous references to popular culture might go over the head of the old boy, but certainly one that will appeal to many.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

5.0 out of 5 stars A Definite Thumbs-Up 1 Oct 2007

By Beverly Carlton

Format:Hardcover

What a pleasant surprise this book was!

Having borrowed it off my daughter (she knows how much I like Celebrity gossip), I took this book with me on a trip to Greece and had finished it by the 3rd day.

I found it very easy to read and actually found myself laughing out loud to some of the numerous wry and amusing observations that Jules made (and to the annoyance of my husband). I got slightly frustrated that some of the Celebrity meetings that he had weren't expanded upon as much as some of the others, but only because I wanted to hear more of what these people were actually like.

Nevertheless, a definite thumbs up from me (although probably not from his friend Michael, who he was a little cruel about)

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't give up the day job, Jules. 29 Sep 2007

By Phil S

Format:Hardcover

It's very rare that I'll continue reading a book that I'm not enjoying. However, in this case I made an exception. A morbid curiosity developed within me. It was a little like watching a slow-motion train wreck.

I wondered to myself, "Just how bad can this become?" and I read it to the end to make my judgement objectively.

The answer? Awful.

A great premise, with the possibility of an entertaining plot. But it's completely ruined by Segal's irritating writing style. He seems to find it necessary to throw gags and puns in practically every sentence. A bit like the chap in the office that has a punchline for every occasion, this is a world away from genuine wit.

Segal can't take all the blame for this - his publisher must have had the quality control level set particularly low, perhaps with an eye for the Dave Gorman/Tony Hawks/Danny Wallace market. But the difference between these three and Jules Segal is that they can actually write humour that reaches its target.

1 Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Search Customer Discussions

Listmania!

Greeting the 500 [Hardcover]

Book Description

Product details

More About the Author

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

Customer Reviews

Customer Discussions

Start a new discussion

Listmania!

Look for similar items by category

Feedback