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Shop Horror: The Best of the Worst in British Shop Names
 
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Shop Horror: The Best of the Worst in British Shop Names (Hardcover)

by Guy Swillingham (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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4 new from £36.74 13 used from £9.03

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd (1 April 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007198132
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007198139
  • Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 15.4 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 261,976 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #7 in  Books > Humour > Puns & Wordplay
    #87 in  Books > Horror > Reference
    #98 in  Books > Humour > Business

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Product Description

Ian Hislop, Broadcaster and Editor, Private Eye
I laughed a lot.

Paul Ross, Broadcaster
Every page of Guy Swillingham's book is a joy. Brilliant. I urge you to get it.

See all Product Description

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very, very funny. Top of the Shops, 12 May 2005
By A Customer
This book succeeds where other humour books fail. So many offerings in this category have an amusing title or premise but they fail to live up to the promises these make. On flicking through, you find they just offer one joke repated on every page.

'Shop Horror' differs and succeeds by offering so much more than a collection of the country's funniest shop names. On many pages there is an image of a shop with a genuinly inventive name. Sherlock Homes estate agents, Criminal Records record shop, The Bitter End off-licence, Sherwood Florist flower shop; there's nearly 200 of them and every one is a gem. However, the book's strength lies in the extra features that add so much more value and keep you reading. The author takes you inside selected shops to introduce the owners, the customers and to paint a picture of work and life there. More importantly, he tries to discover how these establishments came by their names. Even more fun is offered by the entertaining themed groupings of shops. Film-based store names such as Austin Flowers florists, Dye Hard hair salon and Brief Encounter lingerie shop are great fun, as are the shops based on TV shows (A Pine Romance, Open All Flowers) and pop groups (Bananarama etc). There's even more value added by the features on Britain's punniest town (Brighton), shops that have recently closed (including the fantastic Napoleon Boiler Parts) and name suggestions for people about to open a new shop (Bike To The Future anyone?).

This is more than photos of Britain's funniest shops, this is a feature-packed tour of the world of amusing shops with so much to read, you'll enjoy it again and again.

Very, very funny.

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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Pun-believable!, 1 April 2005
Shop Horror is one of the funniest and most stylishly put together books of recent years. It not only contains hundreds of fantastic pictures of hilarious - and bizarre - shop names, but also talks to the shopkeepers. Their comments and the photos of the interiors create an incredibly nostalgic vision of our 'nation of shopkeepers'.
In a world filled with ever-growing coffee and supermarket chains Shop Horror presents our finest independent retailers - in all their glory. I loved Battersea Cod's Home; the florist 'Floral and Hardy';and the record shop 'The Vinyl Resting Place'. There are just too many to choose from.

Even better were the photos in the themed lists, like TV Title Shops(Open All Flowers & Spex in the City), or 80s Pop Band Shops ( my fave being Jane Armour Trading!) In fact there's tons to read. It manages to hit the line between knowing irony and nostalgic celebration perfectly. Guy Swillingham has created a wonderful book I can't wait for Shop Horror 2!

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars :), 29 Nov 2006
By C. E. Mccarthy "webo_girl" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Side-splittingly funny, I keep it on my desk and open the book at random every morning to start the day with a bit of hilarity.

My personal favourite: Kumquat Mae, the vegetarian restaurant!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A nation of paronomastic shopkeepers


The fun and froth of the British High Street is brilliantly captured in this lovely photobook of quirkily named shops. Read more
Published on 16 Jul 2006 by Robin Benson

5.0 out of 5 stars HIGH STREET COMEDY
I take photos of shop fronts with wacky names and Blackpool has a lot of 'em.Amazingly not one is shown in this book yet we had until new owners destroyed the name a chip shop... Read more
Published on 20 May 2006 by Richard

5.0 out of 5 stars Groan, cringe and laugh out loud!
The quirky sense of humour that the British are famous for is captured perfectly in this book - I just love it!
Published on 3 May 2005 by Bill Lee

5.0 out of 5 stars Pun-Tastic
With our shopping experiences being ever more dictated by global, grey, humourless conglomerates it is great to see that the good old British sense of humour is still alive and... Read more
Published on 3 May 2005 by rogero

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