Friday 28 September 2012

Moranthology - Caitlin Moran


Since the age of 16 Caitlin Moran has been a journalist. We got a taste of her writing and humour with How To Be A Woman. Here though she brings together a collection of articles which covers just about every subject. Downton Abbey, The Great British Bake Off, Paul McCartney, Children's parties, Twitter and Lady Gaga (to name but a few). All with the same humour and candor she brought to her first book.

I have been putting off reviewing this because I made the mistake of loaning it to a friend before I had the chance to write one. I don't usually use the book to write the review but I always like it sitting there by me when I do. I suppose it's a comfort thing in case I do need to remind myself of something. Anyone else like that? However, I can't put it off any longer as I don't want to be as far behind in my reviews as I was at the start of the month.

I think most people will be picking this up because of her first book How To Be A Woman which was a fantastic read. This one is a little different to that which isn't a complaint. Instead of talking about all things female related she shares with us her view points on almost everything. They all come from articles she has written over the years. In her first book she talked a lot about growing up but most of the articles in this collection is fairly recent (although she does reflect on her adolescence). The books converge on the fact that there are both serious and not so serious topics covered. Plus she knows how to laugh at herself as well as the world in general.

Her ability to laugh at herself and her openness about mistakes she has made in her career was one of the things that I loved about the book. She shares many stories of making gaffs when interviewing people she admires. Paul McCartney and Eddie Izzard are just two of the examples. At one point she mentions that award ceremonies for her are usually a who's who of embarrassing interview moments. You can't help but cringe with her and laugh at the same time.

She covers so many different topics it would be impossible for me to list them. Some of my favourites include her love of The Great British Bake Off and her love of Sherlock Holmes. In fact one of the articles is about time she was able to spend on the set and included conversations with Martin Freeman and Russel T. Davies. There were a few topics that didn't very much interest me such as her reviews of Downton Abby. They were still amusing and well written but having never watched it I found it hard to have the enthusiasm Moran clearly has for the series. She doesn't just talk about television but also politics, music and anything really that catches her interest.


I did however, geek out at one point. Feelings of envy were also in there. Moran had included a few articles about this guy! She not only got to visit the set, sit in on a few meetings, met Kylie and Freema Agyeman (before she appeared on our screens) she also got to talk to and drink with David Tennant. There were a few of these articles and it was hard not to feel the excitement that Moran showed in her writing. Mind you, I would have been jealous and geeking out regardless of the writing.

Overall a great book and I am glad I picked it up as soon as it came out. I would have read it in a day if I had the chance. I picked this book for the journalism/humour category of the Mixing it Up challenge hosted by Ellie of Musings of a Bookshop Girl. I was actually struggling to come up with a book for this category. I couldn't decide what to go with. This book was perfect though as it falls under both. I read it a month earlier than I planned but to be honest I couldn't have waited. As a result I have only one more book to read for this challenge. If you want to see how I am getting on you can do so here.

8 comments:

  1. I am SO excited to read this book, but I've had to wait so long because I'm going to an event thingy next week where Caitlin's going to say things and be amazing! So I'm really excited about that, but ALSO I'm sad that I haven't read this yet!

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    1. I am so jealous that you are going to an even with Caitlin Moran. I imagine she would be fantastic to go and hear. I follow her on twitter and she is always amusing me.

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  2. I'm definitely looking forward to this one! I saw it in Waterstones last week but it was so huge I left it for another day! I read her columns in The Times magazine every weekend, and they regularly have me crying with laughter - and I very much enjoyed the Sherlock piece you mentioned. In fact, I think I might have ripped it out and still have it somewhere... One for my library list, perhaps?

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    1. I never buy newspapers because I read them online. I would make an exception for her though. Tempted to make a start. There are a few Sherlock columns in there where she reviews the show itself. Their quite good too. Definitely get it from the library if you can. Just don't read it on the bus like me.

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  3. I too like to have my book with me when I review Karen. So that I do justice to the book and not have to rely my fuzzy memory for anything... I'm trying to see the wit of Caitlin, I have yet to catch on to it yet.

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    1. Glad I'm not the only one :D. I'm sure her wit isn't everyone's cup of tea. I liked her openness too though.

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  4. I'm currently reading Moran's first book, which I'm enjoying a lot. I am definitely interested in checking this one out after that.

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    1. The first one is good. I think if you like that one you'll like this one so long as you are warned that it comes in the format of articles. Although she does have a wee commentary at the start of each which is also amusing.

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