| Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks: The Essential Alan Coren |  | Author: Alan Coren
Creators: Giles Coren, Victoria Coren
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99 (EUR13.20)
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 23,227
Media: Paperback
Pages: 438
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.2
ISBN: 184767321X
Dewey Decimal Number: 828.91409
EAN: 9781847673213
ASIN: 184767321X
Publication Date: June 4, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The ultimate anthology of the humorous writing of the 'Sage of Cricklewood'.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
 Great writing, great fun... August 24, 2009
Emanon (Derbyshire)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
It's difficult to express how much of a joy this collection of works from the long career of Alan Coren's is because any kind of superlative prose can only seem inadequate when compared to writing of this artfulness and quality. Suffice it to say that some of these pieces are laugh-out-loud funny, many of them you just feel the need to read out loud to whoever is within earshot just so you can share their brilliance and sheer exuberant eloquence, and pretty much all of them will leave you in a pleasantly thoughtful frame of mind.
I did find that I preferred the later shorter pieces, probably as they overlapped more with events in my own lifetime, and it seemed that age did not wither that amazing wit. When Mr Coren got older he got sharper, pithier and funnier. It's all just so amazingly well written that sometimes you can't believe quite how good it is. The targets - both big and small - are dealt with an inimitable stylishness that seems effortless but comes from someone who was truly an expert at what he did. Some of my personal favourites are about the absurdities of suburban living - like over-ambitious dinner party menus, over-competitive bridge partners, or the sheer over-optimistic hopefulness involved in just trying to make it to the theatre on time - but there's so much more to this collection than that and so many more topics that are touched upon that you're bound to find something to enjoy here.
85 pieces from across over four decades of writing cannot but scratch the surface of the imaginings of this master wordsmith, but this selection does make for a very enjoyable read. Introductions to the various decades from Melvyn Bragg, Victoria Wood, Clive James, A. A. Gill and Stephen Fry show the quality of his fans and influence. His (rather fabulous) offspring, Giles and Victoria, also pitch in with a fondly observed introduction perhaps proving, at the very least, that genius might just have something of the genetic about it.
Poetry, royalty and estate agents August 2, 2009
Mr. Alan Massey (Livingston, Scotland)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A wonderful collection of writing. Funny but also good for the mind. Coren's ability to immitate and translate makes such a good read: royalty on days off, what estate agents would make of the Doomsday book, why poetry meant that Postman Pat could not have a black and white dog. This is a sideways, upside down glance at the world. The impossible and implausible is considered as actuality with a great commentary on what is happening currently appearing magically (or so it seems).
I would recommend this book. It is a great read and takes the reader through decades of work. Sometimes it sounds a little dated, but that is what it is...of its time. It is good to see how language and behaviours have changed (or not).
A very satisfying retrospective on a comic genius July 2, 2009
Mr. A. J. Downs (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Not only is this an excellent selection of some of the best of Alan Coren's writing and of his prodigious style and humour, there is a preface by his children that reveals quite a lot about the man himself.
Alan the King Coren May 8, 2009
Mrs E (Inverness)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent collection, gives a real feeling for the man and his humour. Highly recommended, both husband and I really enjoyed it, lots of laughs. His mastery of the written word is enviable - should be a recommended text for every English student!
brilliant, brilliant comedy writer/performer March 16, 2009
Ben J. Ohmart (Boalsburg, PA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'd rather read this than Woody Allen anyday. Alan has an intelligence unequaled, and it's running riot thru these pages!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
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