Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
A fun look at the festive season |
| Disadvantages: |
Far too short a book ! |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
"Children: - 'Christmas is for the children.' Repeat this ten times when you're trying to park at the supermarket on Christmas Eve because you've forgotten the cranberry sauce."
Let's cut to the chase - Christmas is shite. Whether you're a shopkeeper, teacher, bin man or nurse the run up to the festive season is one long headache on a path to lots of short headaches. The shops are packed, roads busy, your bank account takes a battering as do your nerves, and you can't even escape the madness by going abroad without first having to play that very British of Christmas games - guess when the fog will lift so your plane can take off. But despair not, you are not alone. Hot on the trail of the
books 'Is it me or is everything shit' Volumes 1 & 2; comes 'I'm Dreaming of a Shite Christmas' a witty tome in which R.J.
Clarke examines the season of goodwill in what he subtly calls 'A festive guide to overcooked sprouts, charades and giblets.' Who amongst us Men folk has not had to suffer the naturally occurring annual phenomenon of 'Buygration'? - The worrying sight of wandering males congregating in lingerie departments on Christmas Eve. At least now we can recognise this and other festive follies, as IDOASC offers up an encyclopaedic look at everything pertaining to Christmas time - from advent calendars and batteries to unwanted presents and white Christmas, all covered in an honest and amusing manner.
"Crossword Puzzles: - At Christmas, these suddenly quadruple in size. Why? Nobody knows and it remains a puzzle."
So how do I feel about IDOASC? Well, there is little doubt that this is the book I have been waiting for, I thought I was alone in feeling like this at yuletide and feared being branded a curmudgeon of Scrooge like proportions should I voice my feelings to others. But it seems there are many of us the length and breadth of the United Kingdom struggling with Christmas and all it entails. I was considerably alarmed at the amount of head nodding and wry smiling elicited from myself during the reading of this book, but each entry seems to sum up so eloquently those little things that really shouldn't get to us at Christmas - but do! Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas itself, it's just the run up (which seems to start in August when Tesco put out their Christmas cards and toy manufacturers start to hypnotise children into believing they have to get the latest doll/Console game/
Harry Potter crap!) that really gets to me.
"Over-commercialisation:- The worry is that the true meaning of Christmas is at risk of being lost. If we carry on like this it won't be very long before children will see December 25th as just a day when they get presents."
At 87 pages I think it is fair to say IDOASC isn't going to be the longest or most challenging read you'll come across, but I defy any person not to find at least a dozen descriptions that don't have them nodding in agreement or chuckling in guilty recognition. The encyclopaedic layout means it is the sort of book that can be dipped in and out of without losing the value of the writing. Selections of
black and white pictures grace the book where words alone cannot impart the requisite feeling of Christmas woe or holiday horror and these just add to the feeling of murk. Let's face it, we all know Christmas can be shite, maybe that's what makes it great, but at least now we know there is a book to seek solace in so that when you find the turkey is still half frozen at 11:30 on Christmas morning or Great Aunt Florence has had half a bottle of cream sherry for breakfast you can console yourself in the fact that you are not alone. Four stars out of the five for me - the missing star pertaining to the fact that IDOASC is not nearly long enough! But I guess they have to keep a little back for volume 2 next year, now did I notice an entry for Christmas cash in books………………..
"Santa, a.k.a. Father Christmas: - He knows if you've been bad or good. He knows what you want for Christmas. He knows where you live. He knows a market research company that will pay top dollar for this information. Santa is responsible for your junk-mail."
ISBN: - 0-7522-2626-6
Typically under £5
Hardback 87 Pages
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