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Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows: Travels Around the North Country Fairs
 
 
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Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows: Travels Around the North Country Fairs (Paperback)

by Harry Pearson (Author) "Winter dragged on ..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows: Travels Around the North Country Fairs + The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North East Football + Dribble!: The Unbelievable Football Encyclopaedia
Price For All Three: £18.47

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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Abacus; New edition edition (4 Sep 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 034910946X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0349109466
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 225,330 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #13 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Festivals & Celebrations

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Product Description

Review
'Pearson is funnier than Bill Bryson ... a prize onion of a tome that'll leave you streaming at the eyes with merriment' INDEPENDENT 'Just as much of a hoot [as THE FAR CORNER]. The title explains his remit, but can't do justice to his one-liners and digressions' MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS

Product Description
Following his book about football in the north-east,"The Far Corner", Harry Pearson vowed that his next project would not involve hanging around outdoors on days so cold that itinerant dogs had to be detached from lamp-posts by firemen. It would be about the summer: specifically, about a summer of shows and fairs in the north of England. Encompassing such diverse talents as fell-running, tupperware-boxing and rabbit fancying (literally), and containing many more jokes about goats than is legal in the Isle of Man, "Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows" must be the only book in existence to explain the design faults of earwigs and expose English farmers' fondness for transvestism.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Winter dragged on. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Laughter is assured as Harry explores up north, 7 Feb 2003
It is only natural that Pearson is compared to Bryson (from the front cover to the reviews). Insofar as this encourages you to buy the book, one can only confirm the similarities. I would rather prefer it to the early Bryson, as it concentrates more on people and their foibles (as well as sheep) than on book-learning. Pearson interweaves his research inobtrusively, and the book is clearly written by one who has travelled around the north of Britain's fairs and farms, and then done some homework in the library (and not the other way round like the more recent Brysons). This book will make you laugh out loud, whilst inspiring sympathy and interest in ways of life gone by. This book will age well, and the fact that it was written a few years ago is irrelevant. It is in my view an outstanding book, and it is a shame that probably most of its readers were football fans who have read his other books. This deserves a much wider audience. Buy it from amazon. You will not be disappointed. (and once you have read it, come back to the website and give this review a positive review, because I am right! If you hate the book, then a negative is in order. But you won't)
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Prepare to chortle loudly on the train, 17 Sep 2002
By A Customer
Bill Bryson eat your heart out. Dry, incisive, irreverent and littered with wildly off-topic rants/ancedotes on everything from cinder toffee to psychotic sheep. A bit of history on the origins of English country fairs, mixed with wry observations on regional eccentricities. Please write more Mr pearson!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and well informed, 25 Jul 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows (Audio Cassette)
I first heard excerpts from this on Radio 4 in about 1997. I had to buy it after that, even after what he said about the West Riding. Harry Pearson tells us the history of Northern fairs and describes his visits to a number of them. If you like Bill Bryson you should enjoy this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious
This is the sort of book that you will lend to someone at work, only to have to buy it again when they fail to return it (because they want to keep it). Read more
Published 6 months ago by John Meanwood

4.0 out of 5 stars A hilarious journey through the northern countryside
This tape takes the listener across the countryside of northern England, in a journey where present day social commentary is linked back to the historical origins of the country... Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Another exceptional Pearson effort, well worth the read.
After the Far Corner anything else as humorous was expected to be a tall order but Harry has done it again. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2001 by sharevis@dynamite.com.au

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart warming Humourous Account of Northern Tradition.
For anyone who has lived in the north of England and has experienced the annual gatherings of country folk this book is a hoot.
Published on 22 Nov 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars hilarious account of north country fairs
This book is an hilarious account of agricultural shows and fairs of northern England, providing desciptions of the present day and historical background. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 1999

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