Shirley Curran
The very first of the collected writings of Jeremy Clarkson fell into my hands today. The World According to Clarkson produces a laugh on every page. Is this because he dares to say the irreverent things about overweight people (whole nations of them), British politics and politicians, travelling in Europe, fox-hunting and so on that I am just itching to say but too politically correct to dare?
I like these essays for a second reason. The contents of The World According to Clarkson first appeared in his Sunday Times column. He is limited there to a word count that just fills three and a half pages of the book – a perfect length for a very funny read! You can dip into it, have a good laugh, then get on with whatever dull task you were performing.
However, despite the humour, there is some very serious thinking here. Take his conclusion to an essay ‘Speaking as a Father, I’ll Never be a Mother. He decides that mothers have the responsibility for kids who are ‘fun’ for the fathers, ‘And it’s also why, if there’s no option, courts have to side with the mums’.
It isn’t all serious, though. An essay about his visits to exotic Pacific islands ended with, ‘And there’s the thing. We dream the tropical dream. But we’re built to live in Dewsbury.
GenevaLunch, 17 August 2010.
Filed under: Non-fiction
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