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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
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.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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!
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!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Many people are familiar with Guy Browning's laconic and inventive columns in The Guardian. Here is a 'Long March' of autobiography written in a similar style, covering his Adrian Mole years. He's got a brilliant memory for all his childhood holidays, and he paints his family and friends as warm and eccentric characters.
It's an ingenious format for a book and the chapters are short and to the point. It's very funny, very English and does its bit to champion the joys of cartography. Highly recommended.
It's an ingenious format for a book and the chapters are short and to the point. It's very funny, very English and does its bit to champion the joys of cartography. Highly recommended.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A life quite ordinary
I read Guy Browning's book after purchasing Mike Parker's Map Addict from a small independent bookshop in the Cotswolds. Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2009 by M. Hayward
tries too hard to be funny - and fails
this author tries too hard and yet fails to be funny. i guess humour is subjective and this wasn't for me. but beware of a good title good cover and good reviews.
Published on 3 Sep 2009 by Mrs. S. C. Lamb
Fans of the author will not be disappointed
I'm a big fan of Guy Browning's books, I love his sense of humour, and was delighted to find it running thoughout this biography of his early years up to just before he goes to... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2009 by Philip Overton
Gilt edged humour
This is a book that proves humour to be a great way to view life. Browning's disciplined meanderings around the pathways of his past throw up the gems that you would expect from... Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2008 by Edward Mccabe
definitely recommended for your Xmas stocking!
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... Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2008 by M. Gulliford
a slight caveat to previous reviews
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... Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2008 by Big Jim
Maps of My Life
'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... Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2008 by J. Woodford
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