Comedian Mark Steel, has spent most of his life a committed, signed-up member of the Socialist Workers Party. The Labour Party coming to power in 1997 could have been the start of a new political dawn for Mark and for Britain. But instead, big business and war-mongering thrived under New Labour, and in many ways the working class seemed to become more marginalised. Petty bickering and in-fighting racked the SWP, numbers dwindled horribly, socialism became a dirty word and Mark Steel began to think the unthinkable ...do I really want to belong to this rabble anymore? At the same time, entering his forties, Mark's personal life began to disintegrate. Spending many sleepless nights on the sofa, watching inane cable TV into the early hours of the morning, Mark asked himself the question, 'What is Going On?' In a book that goes right to the heart of Britain and the problems it suffers today, Mark wonders why over a million people marching in London couldn't stop the war in Iraq, why supermarkets are killing the small town centres of Britain and why George Galloway went on Celebrity Big Brother destroying any political credibility he may have had in the blink of a cat's eye.Bitingly funny, poignant, sharply observed and very much of the moment, this is Mark Steel at his brilliantly intelligent best.
What's Going On?
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About the Author
Mark Steel is a writer, presenter and comedian. His TV and radio series include The Mark Steel Solution, The Mark Steel Revolution and The Mark Steel Lectures. He writes a weekly column for the Independent newspaper and is a regular on Radio 4's Loose Ends and The News Quiz. He lives in London.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By S Wood
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
It's possible that even the hardest of hard right-wingers will feel some sympathy for comedian Mark Steels plight as he stumbles through his 40's. His relationship has gone belly up, the political party that he has been a member of since his teens has falling apart, one of his close political comrades has died, and if that's not bad enough, well . . . he's became a good friend of Bob Monkhouse.
Mark Steel weaves the belly laughs in with the more melancholy moments and creates a splendid memoir of his confused meanderings through the first half dozen or so years of the last decade. Whether he is talking about his failing relationship or his two kids, his experience of campaigning against the war in Iraq, super-markets, celebrities or schools, or even George Galloway there's a plentiful supply of wit and even a little wisdom too.
I found this one hard to put down and recommend keeping it aside for a long, empty and chore free afternoon. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Mark Steel weaves the belly laughs in with the more melancholy moments and creates a splendid memoir of his confused meanderings through the first half dozen or so years of the last decade. Whether he is talking about his failing relationship or his two kids, his experience of campaigning against the war in Iraq, super-markets, celebrities or schools, or even George Galloway there's a plentiful supply of wit and even a little wisdom too.
I found this one hard to put down and recommend keeping it aside for a long, empty and chore free afternoon. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"...we know so much of it could be put right, but we have no idea how to make it happen."
17 Aug 2010
By Femmielala
Format:Paperback
Read only because this was lent to me by a colleague, this is not normally a book I would choose to read. My perception is that these days books written by comedians who turn 40 and have a mid-life crisis are ten-a-penny and I though this would be one of those books filled with pedestrian observations of hitting the big Four-O.
Oh, how wrong I was.
What's Going On paints a poignant, honest and at times heartbreaking parallel between the breakup of Mark Steel's relationship and his decision to part with his beloved Socialist Workers' Party (SWP). He writes without any pretension and is funny, thoughtful and insightful. There are some rousing passages peppered throughout the book about effecting change; but more than anything the book highlighted the desperate futility of the fight against the evils of Capitalism which the quote I have used in the title of this review I think sums up beautifully.
Whether you are sympathetic with Mark Steel's politics or not; I challenge anyone not to be a little bit moved by this book. Go on!
Oh, how wrong I was.
What's Going On paints a poignant, honest and at times heartbreaking parallel between the breakup of Mark Steel's relationship and his decision to part with his beloved Socialist Workers' Party (SWP). He writes without any pretension and is funny, thoughtful and insightful. There are some rousing passages peppered throughout the book about effecting change; but more than anything the book highlighted the desperate futility of the fight against the evils of Capitalism which the quote I have used in the title of this review I think sums up beautifully.
Whether you are sympathetic with Mark Steel's politics or not; I challenge anyone not to be a little bit moved by this book. Go on!
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By J. Goddard
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read a couple of Mark Steel's other books, so I kind of knew what to expect. However, this has more depth and poignancy. That'll be due to age, I reckon (both his and mine).
His humour doesn't always work for me, but there is enough here to more than satisfy. Besides, I like it that his humour has a point to it and that, while he sometimes picks easy targets, he's never nasty or vicious. What I most liked was the sense of truth in his telling of how confusing things have become as he has got older. Also, the story of his marriage breakdown is told, as another reviewer mentions, withough bitterness and with due regard to privacy. Really not sure what one of the other reviewers means about him being 'grumpy'. Quite the opposite, I'd have said. Even when he is getting hacked off with the SWP, you can see there's more affection there than anything else.
Because of the honesty about the political changes he's seen, the book has contemporary relevance. Anyone who has had any experience of the left these past twenty years or so (and I'm on the pink, tepid, Labour Party edge of the left) will instantly get where he's coming from. Sometimes it helps to laugh, so long as you don't get cynical.
I loved it and would recommend it to anyone.
His humour doesn't always work for me, but there is enough here to more than satisfy. Besides, I like it that his humour has a point to it and that, while he sometimes picks easy targets, he's never nasty or vicious. What I most liked was the sense of truth in his telling of how confusing things have become as he has got older. Also, the story of his marriage breakdown is told, as another reviewer mentions, withough bitterness and with due regard to privacy. Really not sure what one of the other reviewers means about him being 'grumpy'. Quite the opposite, I'd have said. Even when he is getting hacked off with the SWP, you can see there's more affection there than anything else.
Because of the honesty about the political changes he's seen, the book has contemporary relevance. Anyone who has had any experience of the left these past twenty years or so (and I'm on the pink, tepid, Labour Party edge of the left) will instantly get where he's coming from. Sometimes it helps to laugh, so long as you don't get cynical.
I loved it and would recommend it to anyone.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Steel's best work
I am usually a big fan of this author but this account of the conflicts inherent in reconciling his socialist beliefs with the banality of everyday life - growing older, being... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Anglolawyer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of giggles
This was a gift for my husband who is a big fan. I chose a good one as I have heard him laughing and giggling a lot lately.
Great price
Great price
Published 3 months ago by Christine A Greenhalgh
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amusingly deflating and uplifting
Socialist comedian and BBC Radio 4 regular hits 40 and finds a world of confusion. His marriage is falling apart, the Socialist Workers Party isn't behaving like it should and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by John Reynolds
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
Love it. He is my favourite comedian and I love all his work. A clever man with so much talent.
Published 6 months ago by Kate
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very enjoyable!
Ive almost finished the book, I admit I hadnt seen Mark Steels work and still havent, although I might look him up later as this is a really good book! Read more
Published 15 months ago by Nena Sings
5.0 out of 5 stars
A noble, funny man with unshakable principles
Mark talks us through his political and personal journey which is fraught with pitfalls, disappointments and the odd high. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Nadeem Malik
5.0 out of 5 stars
View from the left
I first came across Mark Steel as a comedian on Radio 4. Later I read some of his journalism. And I have read other books by him. He is what used to be called a "loony lefty". Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2010 by Mr. R. Friend
4.0 out of 5 stars
Relationship breakdowns and the Socialist Worker's Party. Quite funny.
A whole book in which a self-confessed middle-aged man compares his own relationship break-up with the gradual demise of the Socialist Worker's Party should, by definition, be... Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2009 by Mr. Stuart Bruce
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the funniest guys in the UK
This hilarious book exactly mirrored my life at the time of reading - a disillusionment with marriage and the organised left (despite having faith in both). Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2009 by Paul Wellings
5.0 out of 5 stars
a beautiful book
Mark Steel has written a really great book, I found it poignant and compulsive reading. More serious and personal than some of his previous works, but still with some huge laugh... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2008 by West London woman
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