Subtitled A Field Guide To The British, this is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time, and not just because it's about getting to know the eccentricities of the British.When American journalist Sarah Lyall married an Englishman and moved to live in the UK, she became an ardent analyst of her husband's family, friends and country.
The book is littered with observations, insights and insults that, despite or maybe because of my English-ness, I laughed out loud at.
The way we behave when we're drunk, womanizing, working or politicking (and many of those being observed were doing all 4 at the same time), makes for great reading, if not experiencing in the flesh.
Some of the best examples of Englishmen behaving badly come from Parliament where, despite arcane rules on what language and behavior is acceptable, and what is not, Sarah Lyall calls out these examples (you have to picture a parliamentary assembly consisting of a few hundred elected representatives shouting at one another across the divide between Conservative and Labour groups):
- Conservative MP Nicholas Soames, to Labour MP John Prescott, who had once been a bartender: "Giovanni, a gin and tonic please".
- "Taxi!" the Labour politicians would call out when Patrick Nicholls, a Conservative whose driver's license was suspended after a DUI, stood up to speak.
- "Moo!" they would shout at Douglas Hogg, in recognition of his time as agriculture minister during the 1990s mad cow crisis.
- "Baa!" they cried at Quentin Davies, after a flock of sheep starved to death on his estate and he was convicted of cruelty to animals.
- When Desmond Swayne, a blustery Conservative known for his garish ties and old-fashioned views, forgot to brush his hair before standing to speak, he was greeted by a bunch of Labour MPs barking like were-wolves.
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