Another review for Annus Horribilis

Another nice one too.


From The Guardian Review:


Humour

The wit parade

Carrie O'Grady journeys through the circles of comedy hell to reach Wodehouse heaven

Saturday November 24, 2007
The Guardian


Ah, Christmas humour books. A funny old concept. As I write, there sits at my feet a box overflowing with titles that were so unfunny, so irritating, so desperate to make a quick buck that they don't deserve to be listed here. I'll deal with the books that at least have a chance of provoking a smile.

"List books" make a strong showing this year; half a dozen attractive hardbacks manage to be amusing and informative. Faber's meaty Ten Bad Dates With De Niro (£12.99) is endlessly dip-into-able. Its offbeat, detailed top-10s are all the better for being written by some of our wackier stars: the Coen brothers, Steven Soderbergh and DBC Pierre all chip in.

As a Dodo (Summersdale, £9.99) brings together entries from a popular blog that publishes faux obituaries - so, for example, RIP Humanity's Sense of Superiority, which kicked the bucket this year when chimps were shown to use tools. Touch Me, I'm Sick (Portrait, £9.99) enumerates the 52 creepiest love songs, from Maurice Chevalier's icky "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" to Sophie B Hawkins's outright illegal interpretation of "Hansel and Gretel".

'If all that depresses you, enjoy a little schadenfreude with Annus Horribilis (John Murray, £9.99) - 365 tales of real-life "comic misfortune". One for fans of the Darwin awards, although save some sympathy for the intrepid Blackpool hamster that got nicked by the police for speeding down the pavement in a mini-racing-car (really!)."