Start reading My Family and other Disasters on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
My Family and other Disasters
 
 

My Family and other Disasters [Kindle Edition]

Lucy Mangan
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £7.99
Kindle Price: £4.99 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £3.00 (38%)
* Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £4.99  
Paperback £5.99  


Product Description

Book Description

One of the Guardian's most popular columnists shares her unique view of family life.

Product Description

'Hi Dad.'

'Who's calling, please?'

'It's Lucy ... Your daughter.'

'Ah, yes. Which one are you again? The one that reads or the one that shops?'

For Lucy Mangan family life has never exactly been a bed of roses.

With parents so parsimonious that if they had soup for a meal they would decline an accompanying drink (soup IS a drink), and a grandmother who refused to sit down for 82 years so that she wouldn't wear out the sofa, Lucy spent most of her childhood oscillating between extreme states of anxiety.

Fortunately, this hasn't affected her ability to write, and in this, her first collection of Guardian columns, she shares her hilarious take on everything from family relations to the credit crunch and why organised sport should be abolished.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 488 KB
  • Print Length: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Guardian Books (13 Aug 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B008XOE0HY
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #29,896 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  •  Would you like to give feedback on images?


More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant prose, laugh out loud wit 24 May 2009
By Nick
Format:Paperback
Her column was the first thing I turned to in the Guardian Weekend magazine and it had me laughing out loud, and reading her out loud, nearly every week.

Self-deprecating, wise beyond her years, bookwormy, Book Token promoting, modern nonsense popping, eccentric of family, married to a Toryboy...

If you've read her, you'll know to buy this now. If you haven't, you need to catch up - so buy this now.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect book for the bus! 3 Sep 2009
Format:Paperback
I never read Mangan's column in The Guardian, I am more of a Tim Dowling fan and not mad on "Ooooo, isn't my life wacky?!" columns at the best of times, but I came to read this as a colleague was ranting and distraught that the column had disappeared (a brief hiatus as it has been promoted to a whole page at the back of the mag), and I am very pleased that I did.

Mangan's take on life happily - or worryingly - corresponds with my own. I too am not particularly impressed with the modern world although thankfully my family was a bit freer with the cash when it mattered. She writes well and her years with her head in a book have clearly paid dividends with a use of language that indicates a love of English in all its shaggy dog glory. I don't think that they are as hilarious as the other reviewers here (that's where Tim Dowling comes in) but there are certainly some very funny parts and humour is, after all, a realm of very personal preferences.

The book is divided roughly into five sections including a final one on Mangan's take on television, something that would usually bore me to death but was actually really engaging and bang-on-the-money.

If you're a train or bus commuter this is also an ideal book for you. You can get through several columns in a journey and you'll be engaged enough for the tinny emissions from the iPod sporting idiot opposite not to disturb you.

Just one thing - there are only so many times you can use the word discombobulate, brilliant word though it is.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud 3 Jun 2009
Format:Paperback
Thought the jacket was really appealing which is why I picked it up in the first place and then I was really pleased I did.

I don't read the guardian so the pieces were all new to me.

In the last 7 years there have only been 3 books that made me laugh out loud, embarrassingly so especially on the train!

Allison pearson

Peter Kay

Dawn French

And now I can add a 4th.

I love the bits with her father but the whole thing is just charming and funny and oh so true!!!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars JUICY LUCY
If you have got this far, you probably know what Lucy Mangan is about. Hers is the page which most Guardian Magazine readers turn to first, to put them in a good mood for the rest... Read more
Published 20 days ago by B. Harding
5.0 out of 5 stars The Mighty Manganese in full flow
Her hilarious, self-effacing but razor sharp views on modern life need no introduction to fans of her Guardian column. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Samuel Campbell
4.0 out of 5 stars good read
but very different from reading a short extract in the Sat guardian ! very intensive humor but interesting opening to the book which leads the reader in .
Published 3 months ago by helenbells
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny!
Another gem from Lucy Mangan. Like her column in the Guardian I had to finish it, could not put it down
Published 4 months ago by weejoe
5.0 out of 5 stars Lucy Mangan's family
I always read Lucy in the Guardian on Saturdays, and really enjoy her column. She writes well, and makes her family come alive for her readers. Read more
Published 5 months ago by maryshe
1.0 out of 5 stars blob because i said so
i mean what does blob even mean its ridiculous jimi hendrix
wrong book sorry not why would i be i mean bums dont talk
Published 8 months ago by Mr. Matthew White
5.0 out of 5 stars Joy!
I really enjoy Lucy Mangan's column, so went for overload with the book. A collection of free-wheeling tales and interesting observations. Read more
Published 11 months ago by AL
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

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:
Prompts for sign-in
 

Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   


Look for similar items by category


Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Privacy Statement Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Delivery Information Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Returns & Exchanges