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'This is a thoughtful, sympathetic portrait of white working-class life which is essential reading' Guardian
Press and Journal
`An entertaining read'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having family originate from the same postal area as everytown (and one member live on the same road 'Flash Lane'), I bought the book with interest if not slight reluctance - half expecting some patronising exposition on working class life. However, I found every page was a genuine delight. Informative, interesting, witty and accurate. Sure, it is from the 'outsider' perspective, but what else did you expect? Baggini to effect a 'Rovram' accent and attempt to be a cross between Sean Bean and Wittgenstein?
The reivews of the book surprised me - flawed by straw men and ad hominems. As one who has also 'escaped' the area through university, I found this book gave me a fresh perspective on how dangerous it is to criticise mass culture - the section on the Da Vinci Code says more about middle class snobbery than you would expect. Buy this and enjoy.
The reivews of the book surprised me - flawed by straw men and ad hominems. As one who has also 'escaped' the area through university, I found this book gave me a fresh perspective on how dangerous it is to criticise mass culture - the section on the Da Vinci Code says more about middle class snobbery than you would expect. Buy this and enjoy.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was looking forward to this book which put itself forward as a study of the philosophy of life of the typical Englishman, his fears, his aspirations and his ethical beliefs; all of this garnered from a 6-month stay in England's most average postcode. Unfortunately, amusing as it is in parts, it never really lives up to its set ambition. What is worse, there are parts that read just like an exploration of the mythical North/South divide.
Some problems are evident from the beginning. Baggini focuses on an aspect of English life and then, with the admittedly dubious aid of opinion polls, the tabloid press and conversations with locals in the boozer, constructs a set of extremely general truths about English society and the practices of the common man. What are often presented as original insights into the English mind are, I'm afraid, platitudes which apply to almost any modern nation in the Western world. For example, with much fanfare and preparation, we are told that we are obsessed by status, tolerant but wary of other cultures and prefer familiarity and convenience to that which is alien or challenging. There is nothing distinctly English about this.
One reason why the results of Baggini's investigations are disappointing may lie within the author himself. He comes across as extremely ingenuous, a sort of Hugh Grant of the writing world, jumping into everyday pursuits with a sort of trepidation which can only come from living a very withdrawn life. He is shocked by cinema food / snack prices and openly admits he has never betted before. In certain cases, an outsider's view can lend a degree of objectivity to a cultural history but Baggini's lack of participation in the English way of life previous to his trip up North ultimately acts as an obstacle to revealing its key characteristics.
At one point in the book, there is a jab at two other writers, Paxman and Scruton, who are chided for having ignored the average man and concentrated on literary figures and historic events to define the English. One gets the distinct feeling that Baggini might have been more comfortable with this approach.
Some problems are evident from the beginning. Baggini focuses on an aspect of English life and then, with the admittedly dubious aid of opinion polls, the tabloid press and conversations with locals in the boozer, constructs a set of extremely general truths about English society and the practices of the common man. What are often presented as original insights into the English mind are, I'm afraid, platitudes which apply to almost any modern nation in the Western world. For example, with much fanfare and preparation, we are told that we are obsessed by status, tolerant but wary of other cultures and prefer familiarity and convenience to that which is alien or challenging. There is nothing distinctly English about this.
One reason why the results of Baggini's investigations are disappointing may lie within the author himself. He comes across as extremely ingenuous, a sort of Hugh Grant of the writing world, jumping into everyday pursuits with a sort of trepidation which can only come from living a very withdrawn life. He is shocked by cinema food / snack prices and openly admits he has never betted before. In certain cases, an outsider's view can lend a degree of objectivity to a cultural history but Baggini's lack of participation in the English way of life previous to his trip up North ultimately acts as an obstacle to revealing its key characteristics.
At one point in the book, there is a jab at two other writers, Paxman and Scruton, who are chided for having ignored the average man and concentrated on literary figures and historic events to define the English. One gets the distinct feeling that Baggini might have been more comfortable with this approach.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Yes, Biaggini is a bit of a snob, but his observations are quite sound and make a lot of sense. Living in Holland, close to the German border, I can also ensure that his observations are true of those western European countries as well. I am convinced that it takes someone with a detached view to notice the characteristics and peculiarities of other social groups and ultimately Biaggini proves to be sympathetic towards his working class friends from S66. I can't understand all those reviewers who say this is a better or worse book than Paxman's and/or Fox's. I find the three books to be complementary and as such they broaden ones understanding of the mindset of the English (and, for a large part, Western Europeans, because we ultimately have more in common perhaps than most people would be comfortable with admitting).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Get to know the area !
Having recently moved nearby in this area and having come across this book by accident, it is very interesting to read more about this location. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. D. F. Irvine
Accessible, humourous, human but still solidly intellectual
What a great idea to get a bona fide intellectual- a `proper' contemporary philosopher no less- to probe the English psyche in the early 21st century. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Zip Domingo
Not much of a journey into the English mind
I thought I would enjoy this book when I started it and it had moments of interesting thinking (the Daily Mail is a working class paper anyone? Read more
Published 8 months ago by Agent
An informative and interesting read - if you can get through it.
Julian Baggini - Everytown:
Overall "Welcome To EveryTown" can get a bit annoying. Mr Baggini spends so much of the book trying look impartial and un-judgemental that... Read more
Overall "Welcome To EveryTown" can get a bit annoying. Mr Baggini spends so much of the book trying look impartial and un-judgemental that... Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2010 by E. C. M. Cholmeley
The definition is left to the reader
As a Londoner, I could understand what Baggini was talking about. Metropolitan cities only impose on us social behaviors that are not really how we would go about business if we... Read more
Published on 31 July 2009 by Charles Wahab
Obvious ideas and unsound arguments
Philosopher goes to live in statistically average English town for 6 months to find out what 'Englishness'is. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2008 by A. Miles
Interesting reading
The main difference between this book and other examinations of the English mindset such as Kate Fox's "Watching The English" is that Baggini is a philosopher and so relates his... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2008 by David Barton
food for a lot of thought
I really enjoyed this book and am buying a few copies for folk I know. For a look at what it mens to be English, what it means to be an outsider in England, and who the people of... Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2007 by albert perry
Disappointing
The idea of this book sounded so good I couldn't wait to read it. I was so disappointed. So little in the book about the people in postcode S66 (one of the most typical areas in... Read more
Published on 27 April 2007 by Mr. Eamonn Young
Tells you what you already know, but does it well
Highly educated philosopher and published author moves north to live cheek by jowl with the common man and write an account of his experiences. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2007 by N. Chivers
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