Why do so many people go on about queuing? Have we always been obsessed with traffic? And why do so many of us now eat lunch at our computers - al desko?We spend our days catching buses and trains, writing emails, shopping, queuing...But we know almost nothing about these activities. Exploring the history of these subjects as they come up during a typical day, starting with eating breakfast and ending with sleeping, Joe Moran tells a story about hidden social and cultural changes in Britain since the Second World War. Drawing on his academic research on everyday life, but writing with wit and lucidity for a popular audience, he shows that we know less about ourselves than we think...
Queuing for Beginners
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"I've just read Queuing for Beginners by Joe Moran, an affectionate tribute to British life that's very funny and bang up to date with chapters on email etiquette and the seven-minute lunch break. It made me want to take the author to the pub, where I'd ask him why we drink beer in pints."
-- Sam West, Independent
'Here is a book for everyone...It is crammed with arresting facts and insights. Joe Moran writes more elegantly than a social historian has any right to...I kept wanting to read out bits of this book to my children. Partly because it sets in context the activities that will take up most of their life - and partly because it might teach them just how little that is dismissed as "boring" truly deserves the description.' -- Sunday Times, May 27, 2007
`A thoroughly novel and refreshing way of looking at our recent history. This is "mundane" as a good thing. It is a daybreak to bedtime story told further from "them", and nearer to "us". Almost every page has its "yes!..I'd forgotten" moment. I loved his book enormously.' -- Andrew Marr
`A wonderfully insightful probe into the habits and rituals that have made up daily life in Britain since the Second World War. Almost nothing escapes Joe Moran's penetrating gaze; an inspired anthropologist of the ordinary, and often very funny, he turns his readers into informed observers, and gives an enhanced understanding of what we do every day
without a second thought and why we do it. You'll never eat a slice of toast, join a queue or send an e mail in the same way again.' -- Juliet Gardiner
`Queuing for Beginners is a splendidly entertaining book. Joe Moran take a simple but wonderfully imaginative idea, following an ordinary working day from breakfast to bedtime, and uncovers the twentieth-century history of the mundane rituals through which we structure our lives. Nothing escapes his gaze, from cereal packets to chain pubs, and the result is a deft, clever and endlessly fascinating example of social history at its best.' -- Dominic Sandbrook
-- Sam West, Independent
'Here is a book for everyone...It is crammed with arresting facts and insights. Joe Moran writes more elegantly than a social historian has any right to...I kept wanting to read out bits of this book to my children. Partly because it sets in context the activities that will take up most of their life - and partly because it might teach them just how little that is dismissed as "boring" truly deserves the description.' -- Sunday Times, May 27, 2007
`A thoroughly novel and refreshing way of looking at our recent history. This is "mundane" as a good thing. It is a daybreak to bedtime story told further from "them", and nearer to "us". Almost every page has its "yes!..I'd forgotten" moment. I loved his book enormously.' -- Andrew Marr
`A wonderfully insightful probe into the habits and rituals that have made up daily life in Britain since the Second World War. Almost nothing escapes Joe Moran's penetrating gaze; an inspired anthropologist of the ordinary, and often very funny, he turns his readers into informed observers, and gives an enhanced understanding of what we do every day
without a second thought and why we do it. You'll never eat a slice of toast, join a queue or send an e mail in the same way again.' -- Juliet Gardiner
`Queuing for Beginners is a splendidly entertaining book. Joe Moran take a simple but wonderfully imaginative idea, following an ordinary working day from breakfast to bedtime, and uncovers the twentieth-century history of the mundane rituals through which we structure our lives. Nothing escapes his gaze, from cereal packets to chain pubs, and the result is a deft, clever and endlessly fascinating example of social history at its best.' -- Dominic Sandbrook
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Antonio
Format:Hardcover
An original book. Contents organised around people's typical days, but I find the chapters are great fun to dip into - and are the right length for that. They are in effect essays. I've learnt plenty of stuff from this book in terms of social history, sociology - but that makes it sound dry and academic, which it isn't. It's a whimsical, diverting, read.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By D. Radov
Format:Hardcover
I really enjoyed this book. It literally had me laughing out loud on the tube. It's insightful and well written. It's also an easy read and great for dipping in and out of.
I'm buying a copy for my dad as I know he'd like it. I'd say it's an ideal book for people interested in history, sociology or just British culture. It's also an easy read and not at all academic or dry.
I'm buying a copy for my dad as I know he'd like it. I'd say it's an ideal book for people interested in history, sociology or just British culture. It's also an easy read and not at all academic or dry.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Rob Sawyer
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This wonderful book should be compulsory reading for all UK citizens and those wishing to become one - or indeed those visiting and wondering why we are like we are.
Well written, well researched - a gem.
Rob Sawyer
Well written, well researched - a gem.
Rob Sawyer
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
it's all about being british
Curious social history , very readable ,things we take for granted explained . Did you know M & S made the first pre-pact sandwiches ? revolutionized our lunch breaks . Read more
Published 19 months ago by D. S. Sample
3.0 out of 5 stars
Rather lightweight
I read this after reading the Author's "On Roads" which takes a single mundane subject and, by subjecting it to intense scrutiny, makes it rather interesting. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2010 by J. Wyper
3.0 out of 5 stars
jsd review
Queuing for Beginners
First thing - I will never look at Andrew Marr with quite the same degree of awe following his remarks on the front cover. Read more
First thing - I will never look at Andrew Marr with quite the same degree of awe following his remarks on the front cover. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2010 by jsdeans
4.0 out of 5 stars
revealing the perfectly obvious
how often do we stop to consider the mundane routines and rituals of everyday life??? that is the premise of this work, which takes us through a day in the life of the average... Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2010 by tortoise girl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Answers questions you hadn't even thought of asking!
`Queuing for Beginners' deals with the minutiae of everyday life: from sending emails to the history of packaged sandwiches; from the impact of IKEA stores opening and bed buying... Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2010 by Sarah Durston
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's good, but not THAT good
The aim of this book is to record the everyday life of someone commuting to an office, simply recording some of their experiences and reflecting on how these have become part of... Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by Andrew Walker
4.0 out of 5 stars
interesting
I saw this in a book shop and the title totally pulled me in so i bought it on Amazon; it makes it sound like queueing is a skill to be learned! Read more
Published on 6 April 2009 by Dr. A. DEWITT
4.0 out of 5 stars
Funny and interesting
It's a great book, very interesting, funny read. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and it's full of useless information, which is always great!
Published on 23 Feb 2009 by M. Mustafa-holzapfel
5.0 out of 5 stars
The everyday will never seem everyday again!
I love quirky books like this, that take simple and relatable ideas and open the reader's eyes to their history and complexity in an accessible and amusing way. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2008 by Miss E. Potten
5.0 out of 5 stars
An eye for the extraordinary in the ordinary
Joe Moran's book is a masterpiece of brilliant observation. "Queuing for Beginners" is a history of everyday life in Britian since the 1940s and looks at the imperceptible changes... Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2008 by Secret Spi
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