Robin Ince's Bad Book Club: One Man's Quest to Uncover the Books That Taste Forgot
7 journalers for this copy...
This must be the book crossing book of all time!
"Ince has rummaged through charity shops, jumble sales and even the occasional skip in his mission to compile the definitive collection of the world's most extraordinary - and inadvertently hilarious - books. read it and you'll qualify for membership of the Grand Order of Curator of Books that Should Never have Been."
Well, that was hubby's opinion - couldn't get any more out of him than that. Suppose I've to read it for myself . . .
Released 11 yrs ago (9/8/2012 UTC) at Healey Wood Road in Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom
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Time to move along . . .
Hope you enjoy it, Plum-crazy: maybe you'll tell me I've missed a treat!
Managed the first chapter "Sex (which has the subtitle "or the satisfaction of donkeys & other bucket- requiring acts", enough said. Personally I wouldn't have put this in as the first chapter!) & thought I'd give Chapter two a chance, the subject for this being poetry. Now I'm not a poetry fan but can overlook that but when it started on poems about Elvis Presley the line was drawn (you've guessed it, I'm not a fan of his either!)
Anyhow am abandoning this & will donate to a fund raising book sale....although I am just going to read a page or two from the "New Age" chapter as I want to see him take the mick out of Derek Acorah....
Released 10 yrs ago (9/27/2013 UTC) at BCUK Unconvention 2013 in Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
To be released onto the buffet table at the BCUK Unconvention. If it's not picked up by a bookcrosser it will be released into the wild when we undertake our release walk......wherever you found it please let us know it's safe with you :o)
Released as part of the "YOU'RE SUCH AN ANIMAL" Challenge (#25)
Looks like it could be entertaining... !
From what I remember, bits of it are far stronger than others - the Autobiography section sticks in the mind particularly - though unfortunately some targets are really lamely dealt with (New Age, in particular, springs to mind - where Ince seems to little more than mock). The best - and most enjoyable - writing is to be found when the author actually demonstrates immense fondness for some particular quality of the books in question... despite their otherwise obvious rubbishness. This is the aspect that most interests me. Anyone can simply mock - its quite boring to do and even more boring to read. What is much more fun is searching for the curiously redeemable in amongst the dross - and enthusiastically sharing your finds. Ince does a reasonable amount of the latter, but nonetheless, still too much of the former - hence the slightly ambivalent rating here.
All in all, then - a really promising idea, but its execution falls well short of all that it could be. Perhaps Ince is simply the wrong man to write this book? Like Nick Hornby / Dave Gorman / other writers of that ilk - they come up with good ideas but then work them through far too unadventurously. As I often think in relation to them, I would like to see someome else run with the concept - someone more cutting edge like, say, I dunno... Will Self or Charlie Brooker perhaps? [/my$0.02]
Passed onto Chuggypig...
Released 9 yrs ago (6/24/2014 UTC) at Brigantes Bar & Brasserie OBCZ / Meetup Venue in York, North Yorkshire United Kingdom
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To be released at the York monthly Bookcrossing meetup.
Ince's somewhat toothless savaging gets old quite quickly. He's nowhere near acid-tongued enough to really rip into Derek Acorah, who definitely deserves more vitriol.
Released 9 yrs ago (7/21/2014 UTC) at Brigantes Bar & Brasserie OBCZ / Meetup Venue in York, North Yorkshire United Kingdom
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It might reflect the nature of the sorts of books Ince has been picking up, but how many times does rape really have to be mentioned in a supposedly light-hearted comedy book?
I am also a bit baffled as to why Nancy Friday's Secret Garden, an acknowledged landmark in the study of human sexuality, was included, unless it was just an excuse to have an extended giggle at the donkey sex fantasy.
The only thing that saved this book from a lower rating was the fact that it did make me laugh quite a lot in the romance and horror chapters, as I've read some examples of these genres before and recognised the stock characters and plotlines all too well.
Released 9 yrs ago (10/28/2014 UTC) at Brigantes Bar & Brasserie OBCZ / Meetup Venue in York, North Yorkshire United Kingdom
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Released 9 yrs ago (12/22/2014 UTC) at Ye Olde Starre Inne OBCZ Bookshelf in York, North Yorkshire United Kingdom
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Released 6 yrs ago (3/28/2017 UTC) at Trinity Leeds - CLOSED OBCZ in Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom
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