- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (25 Jan 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140182489
- ISBN-13: 978-0140182484
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 322,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Scoop: A Novel About Journalists (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
Lord Copper, proprietor of the Daily Beast, prides himself on his flair for spotting ace reporters. Acting on a tip from Mrs Algernon Stitch, he feels he has hit on just the chap to cover a war in the African Republic of Ishmalia... Here begins Waugh's comedy of mistaken identity and his satire on Fleet Street and its pursuit of news.
From the Back Cover
Lord Copper, proprietor of the Daily Beast, is persuaded to send fashionable novelist John Boot as a foreign correspondent to cover the civil war in the African republic of Ishmaelia; but, owing to a most unfortunate case of mistaken identity, he actually sends William Boot, a contributor of charming nature notes to the Beast who has rarely ventured out of his rural retreat.
Evelyn Waugh's tale of an innocent abroad is a hilarious satire on journalism, set amidst the powerful currents of the 1930's, and contains a memorable collection of comic creations.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
While still a young man, John Courteney Boot had, as his publisher proclaimed, 'achieved an assured and enviable position in contemporary letters.' Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
While still a young man, John Courteney Boot had, as his publisher proclaimed, 'achieved an assured and enviable position in contemporary letters.' Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an incredibly funny novel, and a must read for anybody interested in the politics of the world during the 30's, or the farcical nature of the press. All the way through it is funny, and I can think of no novel similar to it.
In regard to the novel being racist, I don't think it is. It must be taken in the context of it's time, much of the language is outdated, and would never be used now for fear of offence, but was, at the time acceptable. The African characters in the book are never criticised more than the white characters, and if anything, the African's end up fooling the journalists and being portrayed as intelligent, insightful characters. How this could be considered racist is a mystery to me.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Waugh is both appreciated and reviled for much the same qualities. The same caustic wit and social observation that sliced through the ridiculous class structure of his time also brought a flippancy and 'carelessness' which in our politically correct age reads uncomfortably.
Scoop is a classic example, essentially involving a mix up in the assignment of a plum overseas journalism posting to cover the Ishmalian civil war. This is written in the age of Goebbels and Stalin, and so it is no surprise to see that the power of the press is essentially responsible for destabilizing the otherwise unassuming African state. Where the journalists decide there is a story, a story will exist. Is it really that different today?
Waugh uses his social observation skills to almost ludicrous extremes, with portraits of Lord Copper, Boot of the Beast and the other journalists in the pack being both ghastly and stunningly incompetent. The novel retains its comic touch, although has dated slightly more than some of Waugh's other works. Essentially many of the caustic barbs would be more suited to an age familiar with the excesses of Beaverbrook and Rothermere.
This is essentially classic Waugh, and thus should be approached with a little prior knowledge of his style. If you like him, you'll love this - I devoured it in a day.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Waugh effortlessly sucked me into this barmy but beguiling world where everyone speaks their mind but no-one pays any attention. If I said it was about journalism, international relations, nepatism, government, privilege, and philosophy you'd get totally the wrong idea, but it is. If I said it was firstly laugh-out-loud funny, secondly, a classic depiction of life for a certain class of people at a certain time in Britain and thirdly, based around an interesting set of observations I think I'd be getting closer to the truth. You see Waugh, I believe, didn't write about the answers to the injustices, or contradictions he saw. He just redrew them for his reader to make up his or her mind. Which is what I think you should do with Scoop. Remember, laugh first.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
human nature doesn't change much
Very enjoyable. Very funny. But Waugh's throwaway but bitter comments on the hypocrisy and cynicism of the News industry and Politics seem as well-deserved today as they were... Read more
Published 8 months ago by June White
Definately Lord Copper
In the digital age the pace of life in classic Fleet Street may seem strange and unworldly, but the satire on journalism media, politics war and manipulation is as fresh as ever. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ellie Sarah
Amusing, entertaining - and still topical today
Waugh clearly had fun writing this 1938 novel satirising the newspaper industry, and it shows: there's a great deal to laugh at here, whether it's the behaviour of newspaper... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jeremy Bevan
The best audiobook ever
15 years ago I was the audiobooks reviewer for the Guardian and I got this version as a 15 cassette box. It was fantastic then. Read more
Published 16 months ago by William Cohen
Brilliantly funny observation
SCOOP
When I started reading I found the racism and arrogance and attitude of 'empire' almost intolerable. Read more
When I started reading I found the racism and arrogance and attitude of 'empire' almost intolerable. Read more
Published 16 months ago by susanna
They don't make them like they used to!
It took a couple of chapters to get into this book and then could not put it down. Lots of out loud laughing due to the comical genius of Evelyn Waugh. Read more
Published 19 months ago by TJ
Still Funny
Despite being written 60years ago this still makes you stop and think about the validity of the information we receive today.
Published 23 months ago by Paul
Too Broad a Farce
I'm generally a fan of acerbic British fiction and satire, but haven't taken the time to go back and read any Waugh until I picked up this longtime talisman of foreign... Read more
Published 24 months ago by A. Ross
'Scoop' by Evelyn Waugh
William Boot writes a nature coloumn for the Daily Beast. The Beast is owned by Lord Copper who sends the hapless Boot, mistaking him for an author with the same surname, to report... Read more
Published on 25 May 2010 by Joseph Porter
Satire still applicable today
I'm reading this at the moment and loving it - all the bits about the power of the press and the necessity to report something, even if that means making it up, are still... Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2010 by Miriam Bridge
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