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I Can Make You Hate
Would you like to eat whatever you want and still lose weight?
Who wouldn't? Keep dreaming, imbecile.
In the meantime, if you'd like to read something that alternates between laugh-out-loud-funny and apocalyptically angry, keep holding this book. Steal it if necessary.
In his latest collection of rants, raves, hastily spluttered articles and scarcely literate scrawl, Charlie Brooker proves that there is almost nothing in this universe, big or small, that can't reduce a human being to a state of pure blind hatred.
It won't help you lose weight, feel smarter, sleep more soundly, or feel happier about yourself. It WILL provide you with literally hours of distraction and merriment. It can also be used to stun an intruder, if you hit him with it correctly ( strike hard, using the spine, on the bridge of the nose).
Who wouldn't? Keep dreaming, imbecile.
In the meantime, if you'd like to read something that alternates between laugh-out-loud-funny and apocalyptically angry, keep holding this book. Steal it if necessary.
In his latest collection of rants, raves, hastily spluttered articles and scarcely literate scrawl, Charlie Brooker proves that there is almost nothing in this universe, big or small, that can't reduce a human being to a state of pure blind hatred.
It won't help you lose weight, feel smarter, sleep more soundly, or feel happier about yourself. It WILL provide you with literally hours of distraction and merriment. It can also be used to stun an intruder, if you hit him with it correctly ( strike hard, using the spine, on the bridge of the nose).
432 pages, Paperback
First published October 2, 2012
125 people are currently reading
1457 people want to read
About the author
Charlie Brooker
19 books546 followersCharlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism.
He presents TV shows Screenwipe, Gameswipe and Newswipe, wrote a review column for The Guardian newspaper, and is one of four creative directors of comedy production company Zeppotron.
His five-part horror drama Dead Set for E4 earned him a nomination for a BAFTA and he is also the host of the Channel 4 comedy panel show You Have Been Watching. Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his column, and the Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009.
He presents TV shows Screenwipe, Gameswipe and Newswipe, wrote a review column for The Guardian newspaper, and is one of four creative directors of comedy production company Zeppotron.
His five-part horror drama Dead Set for E4 earned him a nomination for a BAFTA and he is also the host of the Channel 4 comedy panel show You Have Been Watching. Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his column, and the Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
October 29, 2012
This is a collection of articles Charlie Brooker wrote for the Guardian newspaper, including the last of his “Screen Burn” columns, and some scripts from his “10 O’Clock Show” and various “Wipe” shows from August 2009 to July 2012.
Brooker has changed quite a bit since the last book: he’s gotten married, he’s become a father, he’s ended his hilarious “Screen Burn” column, bought numerous Apple products, and even taken up running! In other words, the Charlie Brooker of today has become the kind of person he used to make fun of.
The first half of the book is unrelenting hilarity from one column to the next. He writes an imaginary show that would follow “Man Vs Food” called “Man Vs Poo”; he creates a new Scrabble game for young idiots called Scrabble Corrective where for every product or celebrity name they put down, they receive a punch in the chest; he describes a McMuffin as “a bit like sinking my teeth into a small, soft woodland creature... which thoroughly enjoyed being eaten and responded to each bite by gently urinating warm oil down my chin” (p.173); and so on. There are so many moments in the first half of the book I found myself laughing, they are too many to list.
But then halfway through the book, Brooker does something unexpected: he announces the end of “Screen Burn” and writes a mea culpa where he apologises for his nasty, biting tv columns over the years against such easy targets as reality show stars, and... more reality show stars. This wouldn’t be so bad if he continued to be as funny as he was before but now he’s chosen a different, less funny path.
He no longer wants to be the vitriolic tv critic frothing imaginative insults on the page - he instead turns his attention to more “worthy” targets such as David Cameron, the NHS reforms, David Cameron, Daily Mail Online, David Cameron, and David Cameron. For most of the remaining book the topics revolve around what’s happened in the news, covering the crazy year of news that was 2011.
To be fair, the complaint that Brooker didn’t make the toppling of Gaddafi or the crazed Norwegian mass murderer funny is not a real complaint at all - but being a reader of Brooker’s columns, I don’t expect him to even bring them up. Yes I am complaining about the inclusion of reality not because I want to avoid it but because I was already aware of it - I read Brooker for laughter and a brief diversion from all that before being plunged back into the real world.
It wouldn’t have bothered me so much except Brooker seems to show disdain for his past as if writing funny columns about crap tv was such a terrible thing. Not many people can write a memorable and consistently entertaining column that was “Screen Burn” - more than a few can write commentary on how rubbish Daily Mail Online is. I get it, Rupert Murdoch is a creep. But what about some esoteric reality show where the idiotic contestants say and do dumb things? I’m being serious. “Screen Burn” and Charlie Brooker were brilliant, no one writes the kind of ferocious tv reviews he wrote, but open up a news site today and you’ll see any number of glum columnists gamely chucking their keyboards against the bugbear of the day. He’s gone from unique to another face in the crowd.
But the old Brooker does rear his head in a few later pieces. His “David Cameron is a Lizard” columns are brilliant, as is his shredding of John Lewis and Marks and Spencer’s Christmas adverts, and his column on Japan is spot on. The new columns - they’re ok, they’re well written and witty but they’re not very funny.
As if to end the book on a profound note about the kind of columns he used to produce, he writes about “Geordie Shore” and “Made in Chelsea” musing that they showcase obnoxious idiots because without an agreed upon group of hate figures, we’d all kill each other. I don’t agree - I think those shows exist because they’re meant to be made fun of. Like Charlie Brooker used to. Brilliantly. Hilariously. Used to. Somewhere along the line he began taking what he did far too seriously and decided that writing about the Daily Mail and the government made what he did – an opinion column! - more acceptable. But they’re just another group of hate figures to write about. Except writing about them isn’t funny.
Despite this newfound sense of political destiny, Brooker is always worth reading for his imagination and insight, and for fans of “Screen Burn”, the book is worth picking up for the first half alone. “I Can Make You Hate” is funny for the first part and thoughtful for the second, but rarely unreadable, even if Brooker has joined the Righteously Indignant Grown-Up Club.
I imagine the Brooker of the next book will be so content that if he wanted to emulate the kind of column he became famous for writing he’d look back on previous efforts and read “entering our realm each morning by slithering through a haunted mirror in order to feast on human souls” and furrow his brow in confusion - why would I write such demented things?. He used that description for Jeremy Kyle in his last book, now he uses it to describe David Cameron. That pretty much sums up the Charlie Brooker of today.
Brooker has changed quite a bit since the last book: he’s gotten married, he’s become a father, he’s ended his hilarious “Screen Burn” column, bought numerous Apple products, and even taken up running! In other words, the Charlie Brooker of today has become the kind of person he used to make fun of.
The first half of the book is unrelenting hilarity from one column to the next. He writes an imaginary show that would follow “Man Vs Food” called “Man Vs Poo”; he creates a new Scrabble game for young idiots called Scrabble Corrective where for every product or celebrity name they put down, they receive a punch in the chest; he describes a McMuffin as “a bit like sinking my teeth into a small, soft woodland creature... which thoroughly enjoyed being eaten and responded to each bite by gently urinating warm oil down my chin” (p.173); and so on. There are so many moments in the first half of the book I found myself laughing, they are too many to list.
But then halfway through the book, Brooker does something unexpected: he announces the end of “Screen Burn” and writes a mea culpa where he apologises for his nasty, biting tv columns over the years against such easy targets as reality show stars, and... more reality show stars. This wouldn’t be so bad if he continued to be as funny as he was before but now he’s chosen a different, less funny path.
He no longer wants to be the vitriolic tv critic frothing imaginative insults on the page - he instead turns his attention to more “worthy” targets such as David Cameron, the NHS reforms, David Cameron, Daily Mail Online, David Cameron, and David Cameron. For most of the remaining book the topics revolve around what’s happened in the news, covering the crazy year of news that was 2011.
To be fair, the complaint that Brooker didn’t make the toppling of Gaddafi or the crazed Norwegian mass murderer funny is not a real complaint at all - but being a reader of Brooker’s columns, I don’t expect him to even bring them up. Yes I am complaining about the inclusion of reality not because I want to avoid it but because I was already aware of it - I read Brooker for laughter and a brief diversion from all that before being plunged back into the real world.
It wouldn’t have bothered me so much except Brooker seems to show disdain for his past as if writing funny columns about crap tv was such a terrible thing. Not many people can write a memorable and consistently entertaining column that was “Screen Burn” - more than a few can write commentary on how rubbish Daily Mail Online is. I get it, Rupert Murdoch is a creep. But what about some esoteric reality show where the idiotic contestants say and do dumb things? I’m being serious. “Screen Burn” and Charlie Brooker were brilliant, no one writes the kind of ferocious tv reviews he wrote, but open up a news site today and you’ll see any number of glum columnists gamely chucking their keyboards against the bugbear of the day. He’s gone from unique to another face in the crowd.
But the old Brooker does rear his head in a few later pieces. His “David Cameron is a Lizard” columns are brilliant, as is his shredding of John Lewis and Marks and Spencer’s Christmas adverts, and his column on Japan is spot on. The new columns - they’re ok, they’re well written and witty but they’re not very funny.
As if to end the book on a profound note about the kind of columns he used to produce, he writes about “Geordie Shore” and “Made in Chelsea” musing that they showcase obnoxious idiots because without an agreed upon group of hate figures, we’d all kill each other. I don’t agree - I think those shows exist because they’re meant to be made fun of. Like Charlie Brooker used to. Brilliantly. Hilariously. Used to. Somewhere along the line he began taking what he did far too seriously and decided that writing about the Daily Mail and the government made what he did – an opinion column! - more acceptable. But they’re just another group of hate figures to write about. Except writing about them isn’t funny.
Despite this newfound sense of political destiny, Brooker is always worth reading for his imagination and insight, and for fans of “Screen Burn”, the book is worth picking up for the first half alone. “I Can Make You Hate” is funny for the first part and thoughtful for the second, but rarely unreadable, even if Brooker has joined the Righteously Indignant Grown-Up Club.
I imagine the Brooker of the next book will be so content that if he wanted to emulate the kind of column he became famous for writing he’d look back on previous efforts and read “entering our realm each morning by slithering through a haunted mirror in order to feast on human souls” and furrow his brow in confusion - why would I write such demented things?. He used that description for Jeremy Kyle in his last book, now he uses it to describe David Cameron. That pretty much sums up the Charlie Brooker of today.
October 25, 2012
It's Charlie Brooker. Of course it gets five stars.
So, as the blurb says; don't be a prick, buy this book!
So, as the blurb says; don't be a prick, buy this book!
June 22, 2014
"The worst thing happened to you that could happen to any fighter. Ya got civilised."
A line from Rocky III: sage advice delivered from trainer to boxer. Brooker is a journalist, not a boxer; but I doubt the line spoken to him would be that different.
I'm a Brooker fan, having bought/received all of his books at some point. (It makes you an easy person to buy for at Christmas.) I thought it was a shame You Have Been Watching only ran for two series, and I've always looked forward to his annual 'Wipe' programmes on the Beeb.
So...it pains me a little to say that this book isn't up to scratch. It's slack and faded compared to what we've seen to date. Comparing this to Screen Burn, his first, wondrous collection of journalism, is like comparing a sparkler to semtex.
The book is held back by the fact that Brooker gave up the Screen Burn column halfway through the period covered: scripts from 10 O'Clock Live and the 'Wipe' programmes are duly pressed into service as filler. But mostly it's that Brooker seems more considered, even thoughtful this time around - not a good thing when you make your name as the creasingly funny scourge of trash TV. Being fair to the third-rate isn't entertaining.
When you see him giving a wistful thumbs-up to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, compare it with the merciless treatment he gave the show on You Have Been Watching, and you see the change that's come over both his viewpoint and its expression. (He gets the line of dialogue that he quotes from the show wrong as well.)
By the end, he's even giving a 'well, someone must like it' appreciation of Geordie Shore, complete with some wistful musing - for the kind of programme that in his earlier days would have had him reaching for a flamethrower and a refill to ensure the job's finished.
Some might lament his tirades against the Daily Mail - an admittedly deserving target - but that's to ignore all the mileage he's made out of them already. (Remember Daily Mail Island?) You wish the old Brooker would be set loose on the likes of Peter Hitchens, bringing back a lump of bloodied flesh to toss at his readers' feet.
Perhaps all this was inevitable. Like Clive James before him - to whom Brooker has paid moving tribute - Brooker had to leave reviewing TV because soon he'd reach the point where he'd have to review his own programmes. If his talons are less sharp, the metaphors and flights of comic fancy less vivid, perhaps the energy is going into his TV work.
No bad thing.
A line from Rocky III: sage advice delivered from trainer to boxer. Brooker is a journalist, not a boxer; but I doubt the line spoken to him would be that different.
I'm a Brooker fan, having bought/received all of his books at some point. (It makes you an easy person to buy for at Christmas.) I thought it was a shame You Have Been Watching only ran for two series, and I've always looked forward to his annual 'Wipe' programmes on the Beeb.
So...it pains me a little to say that this book isn't up to scratch. It's slack and faded compared to what we've seen to date. Comparing this to Screen Burn, his first, wondrous collection of journalism, is like comparing a sparkler to semtex.
The book is held back by the fact that Brooker gave up the Screen Burn column halfway through the period covered: scripts from 10 O'Clock Live and the 'Wipe' programmes are duly pressed into service as filler. But mostly it's that Brooker seems more considered, even thoughtful this time around - not a good thing when you make your name as the creasingly funny scourge of trash TV. Being fair to the third-rate isn't entertaining.
When you see him giving a wistful thumbs-up to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, compare it with the merciless treatment he gave the show on You Have Been Watching, and you see the change that's come over both his viewpoint and its expression. (He gets the line of dialogue that he quotes from the show wrong as well.)
By the end, he's even giving a 'well, someone must like it' appreciation of Geordie Shore, complete with some wistful musing - for the kind of programme that in his earlier days would have had him reaching for a flamethrower and a refill to ensure the job's finished.
Some might lament his tirades against the Daily Mail - an admittedly deserving target - but that's to ignore all the mileage he's made out of them already. (Remember Daily Mail Island?) You wish the old Brooker would be set loose on the likes of Peter Hitchens, bringing back a lump of bloodied flesh to toss at his readers' feet.
Perhaps all this was inevitable. Like Clive James before him - to whom Brooker has paid moving tribute - Brooker had to leave reviewing TV because soon he'd reach the point where he'd have to review his own programmes. If his talons are less sharp, the metaphors and flights of comic fancy less vivid, perhaps the energy is going into his TV work.
No bad thing.
November 3, 2015
Reading this after the earlier collections of Screen Burn columns, I couldn't help but think that this latest collection marked the point at which Mr Brooker belatedly grew up, realised that as a television personality in his own right, what had previously come across as comedic sniping from the sidelines - the mocking of reality show contestants and hapless minor celebrities - could look a lot like old-fashioned bullying when coming from a man with his own TV series - several of them. And so he goes after bigger targets: Murdoch, the Mail, David Cameron. And sadly, it's not quite as funny. At least not consistently so. There are still plenty laughs to be had, but I wonder if his heart is really in it. Or whether these days he'd rather be making telly than mocking it.
June 21, 2014
I haven’t actually finished this yet, having read two thirds of it over Christmas before leaving it on the sofa for the next six months. But it confirmed my feeling that Charlie Brooker is a bit of a genius, and that his vitriolic outbursts – less pronounced in this collection than others I’ve read – are ground in the fact that he cares quite a bit about the world, as well as its media. If you find him offensive, or nihilistic, then you’ve missed the point and should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.
July 2, 2013
Anyone who's at all familiar with Charlie's previous non-filmic works in whatever form - whether the various Wipe series, his Guardian column, 10 O'clock Live or whatever else - will know what to expect here, not that that's a bad thing.
Brooker is remarkably like Frankie Boyle in his ability to cut straight through the bullshit and sound like an angry man with a rant, only Brooker is actually funny and not a nob.
Something glorious about Brooker that makes you want to hold him up as a champion of all things truly British - cynicism, bitter self-defeatism, complaining and dry acerbic wit.
Hell, stick the cricket team, the golfers and all that rot, we should hand Brooker a gold medal. Though he'd probably just resent us making him have to appear grateful.
Read this. Or don't.
I highly doubt Charlie gives a toss either way.
I was highly tempted to give it 4 out of 4 but rationalised that that was more due to the author than the quality of the work and as it didn't smack me in the balls so pleasurably as 'The Hell Of It All' so it gets a 3.
Brooker is remarkably like Frankie Boyle in his ability to cut straight through the bullshit and sound like an angry man with a rant, only Brooker is actually funny and not a nob.
Something glorious about Brooker that makes you want to hold him up as a champion of all things truly British - cynicism, bitter self-defeatism, complaining and dry acerbic wit.
Hell, stick the cricket team, the golfers and all that rot, we should hand Brooker a gold medal. Though he'd probably just resent us making him have to appear grateful.
Read this. Or don't.
I highly doubt Charlie gives a toss either way.
I was highly tempted to give it 4 out of 4 but rationalised that that was more due to the author than the quality of the work and as it didn't smack me in the balls so pleasurably as 'The Hell Of It All' so it gets a 3.
Read
May 11, 2025I like the guy, Charlie Brooker. Now famous as the creator of ‘Black Mirror’, a series once on British TV, nowadays on Netflix, with often dystopian Sci-fi stories. He started as a writer on computer game magazines and quickly moved onto opinion pieces, mainly in a liberal daily British newspaper. This book is a collection of some of his pieces up to 2012.
I was looking for a directed rant, his speciality, as I’m so frustrated at the political landscape nowadays. And I recall he sometimes took aim at politicians. Indeed, his first Black Mirror episode also alludes to a dodgy ‘hazing’ episode that the then conservative leader was alleged to have taken part in, during his university days, involving a pig and male genitals. He can be savage.
But I now regret the choice mainly because of the time period that’s elapsed. It seems strange to say but the politicians of yesteryear didn’t seem to be the same crass populist chancers we see nowadays, with few sensible or inspiring policies, just something ill defined based on soundbites. His political rants from 2011/12 don’t now hold the same power as they would have then. Plus, these weekly opinion pieces included popular culture generally, with movie, TV reviews too, and ‘reality TV’ which I detest. So I skipped a lot of these articles.
Intriguingly he gave up these regular articles soon after this compilation, with an article explaining why. The article (amongst others) is used by some English examination boards for comment by year 11 pupils, where it says there’s just so much ‘online babble’, too many inconsequential opinions circulated everywhere, that he wishes to opt out from this noise generation.
No rating - I’m sure I would have appreciated it at the time, but it is too outdated now. And I think the angry ‘rant’ style is also not so much to my taste as I’d thought, no matter how much the world might deserve it. Satire is maybe the best tool to tackle political pomposity.
I was looking for a directed rant, his speciality, as I’m so frustrated at the political landscape nowadays. And I recall he sometimes took aim at politicians. Indeed, his first Black Mirror episode also alludes to a dodgy ‘hazing’ episode that the then conservative leader was alleged to have taken part in, during his university days, involving a pig and male genitals. He can be savage.
But I now regret the choice mainly because of the time period that’s elapsed. It seems strange to say but the politicians of yesteryear didn’t seem to be the same crass populist chancers we see nowadays, with few sensible or inspiring policies, just something ill defined based on soundbites. His political rants from 2011/12 don’t now hold the same power as they would have then. Plus, these weekly opinion pieces included popular culture generally, with movie, TV reviews too, and ‘reality TV’ which I detest. So I skipped a lot of these articles.
Intriguingly he gave up these regular articles soon after this compilation, with an article explaining why. The article (amongst others) is used by some English examination boards for comment by year 11 pupils, where it says there’s just so much ‘online babble’, too many inconsequential opinions circulated everywhere, that he wishes to opt out from this noise generation.
No rating - I’m sure I would have appreciated it at the time, but it is too outdated now. And I think the angry ‘rant’ style is also not so much to my taste as I’d thought, no matter how much the world might deserve it. Satire is maybe the best tool to tackle political pomposity.
May 7, 2021
Completely my own fault but I didn't really take in what this book was prior to purchase. It's a collection of Charlie Brooker's articles from the Guardian newspaper, with a couple of tv scripts.
These are still funny, but I read a number of them at the time they were published and they were better when they were current. It was fun to look back on some of the commentary from ten years ago however, and reflect on all that's changed.
This is not the book to start with if you haven't read Charlie Brooker before, but for existing fans it is worth a look.
These are still funny, but I read a number of them at the time they were published and they were better when they were current. It was fun to look back on some of the commentary from ten years ago however, and reflect on all that's changed.
This is not the book to start with if you haven't read Charlie Brooker before, but for existing fans it is worth a look.
December 16, 2023
Was ok Rehashed columns from Guardian -some chapters better than others.
September 8, 2017
This is a collection of articles Charlie Brooker wrote for the Guardian newspaper, including the last of his "Screen Burn" columns, and some scripts from his "10 O'Clock Show" and various "Wipe" shows from August 2009 to July 2012.
The first half of the book is unrelenting hilarity from one column to the next. The style occasionally gets a bit predictable but the metaphors are often superb. He is ageing and his audience don't necessarily like that, but I don't mind a little mellowing. There are so many moments in the first half of the book I found myself laughing, they are too many to list.
But then halfway through the book, Brooker does something unexpected: he announces the end of "Screen Burn. This book has a dazzling array of funny and intelligent articles, and holds a mirror up to some of the darker aspects of mainstream journalism and modern life.The scattergun approach of a collection of columns means that he's got to cover a lot more ground than most authors. Abrasive, sardonic and absolutely hilarious.
The first half of the book is unrelenting hilarity from one column to the next. The style occasionally gets a bit predictable but the metaphors are often superb. He is ageing and his audience don't necessarily like that, but I don't mind a little mellowing. There are so many moments in the first half of the book I found myself laughing, they are too many to list.
But then halfway through the book, Brooker does something unexpected: he announces the end of "Screen Burn. This book has a dazzling array of funny and intelligent articles, and holds a mirror up to some of the darker aspects of mainstream journalism and modern life.The scattergun approach of a collection of columns means that he's got to cover a lot more ground than most authors. Abrasive, sardonic and absolutely hilarious.
October 2, 2013
I'm not quite sure what to write for this book, I think if I had read each of the columns when they appeared in the newspapers then I may have at least enjoyed them a little. As it was the book had lots of entries that had no real context associated with it which made reading them a little frustrating. The title of the book is however, I think, quite apt in that reading it did make me hate the book a little. Charlie Brooker is very opinionated and makes no apology for expressing these views (or extreme variations of them), he also seems a little amused by the fact that he is able to rant on topic of interest to him without really having any credentials to make that possible. Overall I'm disappointed that I wasted so much time reading this book, it was one that had been chosen for a reading group I belong to however which meant I had to read it, otherwise I'd not have even picked the book up let alone started reading.
April 24, 2013
Not as many gut wrenching laughter moments as his earlier work but still very funny an relevant.
July 12, 2018
Very Crass and Very Funny. Brooker has mastered the art of amusingly complaining about things. A collection of sundry columns and a few transcripts it doesn't have much structure and is definitely 'of its time' (which is admittedly only 6 or so years ago) however not much context is required to understand the excellently written humor.
'I'd create an animal that excretes meat, just to give vegetarians pause for thought. Ethically, what's the problem with eating a sausage, if it's been harmlessly pooed out by an animal? To sweeten the pill further, what if you put pleasure receptors in the animal's colon, so it actively enjoys the sausage-creation process - enjoys it to such a degree that it chases you down the street, yelping in orgasmic delight while shitting out a string of pan-ready chipolatas?
If you think that's disgusting, I'd just like to point out that it's far less revolting than killing a pig with a bolt gun and then mashing it up into sausage meat.'
'I'd create an animal that excretes meat, just to give vegetarians pause for thought. Ethically, what's the problem with eating a sausage, if it's been harmlessly pooed out by an animal? To sweeten the pill further, what if you put pleasure receptors in the animal's colon, so it actively enjoys the sausage-creation process - enjoys it to such a degree that it chases you down the street, yelping in orgasmic delight while shitting out a string of pan-ready chipolatas?
If you think that's disgusting, I'd just like to point out that it's far less revolting than killing a pig with a bolt gun and then mashing it up into sausage meat.'
March 14, 2019
From the mind that brought us the brilliant "Black Mirror" series, and two of my favorite catchphrases, from the BBC series "You Have Been Watching": "Fuck a Jesus!" and "He done fell in the water!", a collection of "Screen Burn" columns written from 2009-2012. I have clumped Brooker in my head with Richard Ayoade, Ben Miller, and David Mitchell (the comedian, not the novelist) as Britain's generation of "Whingey Young Men", scintillating comedians who are vastly intelligent and great at po-faced delivery, as here, reporting on the Avengers movie in one of his final Screen Burn pieces:
"Thus the film I saw was called "Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D", which sounds like a badly translated Japanese videogame from the mid-nineties. Or something you might oil and push up your arse while wearing a confused look on your face, a bit like civilisation has failed."
"Thus the film I saw was called "Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D", which sounds like a badly translated Japanese videogame from the mid-nineties. Or something you might oil and push up your arse while wearing a confused look on your face, a bit like civilisation has failed."
February 16, 2020
I have never read his Guardian column but I am guessing this is
mostly taken from his newspaper column and so is going to be a little left leaning
as most entertainers are still we had to be reminded he doesn't like the BNP
who were starting to get a bit more of the votes back then and here's me thinking
we're in a free society and know, we are not supposed to like those sort of people
and most of us don't but we might just agree a little in some of their ideas.
There are good bits for sure and he doesn't like Football and sport in general. like me
and he picks up on the fake patriotism that crops up at major sporting occasions
but he did like London 2012 we are told.
This book covers the years 2010 to 2012 and Brexit is still a while away
a long with Trump in power but you can sense it coming from the book.
mostly taken from his newspaper column and so is going to be a little left leaning
as most entertainers are still we had to be reminded he doesn't like the BNP
who were starting to get a bit more of the votes back then and here's me thinking
we're in a free society and know, we are not supposed to like those sort of people
and most of us don't but we might just agree a little in some of their ideas.
There are good bits for sure and he doesn't like Football and sport in general. like me
and he picks up on the fake patriotism that crops up at major sporting occasions
but he did like London 2012 we are told.
This book covers the years 2010 to 2012 and Brexit is still a while away
a long with Trump in power but you can sense it coming from the book.
November 15, 2021
This book contains a collection of columns that Charlie Brooker had written for the Guardian from 2009 to July 2012, in addition to some “Screen Burn”, “10 O’Clock Show” and “Wipe” shows. It’s a successor to his book “The Hell of It All”. The content basically includes TV shows, politics, current news and his life.
His writing style matches the dialogue from his TV shows, so if you have seen the likes of Screen Wipe/Yearly Wipe, then you will be familiar with his sarcastic style and self-deprecating humour.
As time goes on, the appeal of this book will decrease. If you had read it near the release, then I'd imagine you would enjoy it more than you would now. I also think it would be beneficial to be British. I still enjoyed the book since I like his writing style, but maybe I wasn't that engaged due to reading “The Hell of It All” recently.
His writing style matches the dialogue from his TV shows, so if you have seen the likes of Screen Wipe/Yearly Wipe, then you will be familiar with his sarcastic style and self-deprecating humour.
As time goes on, the appeal of this book will decrease. If you had read it near the release, then I'd imagine you would enjoy it more than you would now. I also think it would be beneficial to be British. I still enjoyed the book since I like his writing style, but maybe I wasn't that engaged due to reading “The Hell of It All” recently.
June 20, 2017
This book, despite loving it oddly took me years to finish reading, oddly also that I started it in hospital and also finished it whilst staying in another hospital (in another country also). Mainly because I am not much of a reader of non fiction so the articles the books collect where read randomly in amongst other stuff, sometimes whilst waiting for a takeaway, something for a quick chuckle. I've been a fan of Charlie Brooker's TV work for a long time but this was his first book I had read and it did not disappoint (despite taking a long time to read for my own reasons), collected Articles he has written all containing his known for humour. My kind. & if it's yours to, you'll probably enjoy the book.
January 4, 2018
Чарли Брукър е любимият ми саркастичен мизантроп!!! Не че познавам много, но са малко себеподобните му, които могат да те карат да се кискаш неконтролируемо, докато правят на пух и прах нещо, което дълбоко цениш. Сред колекцията от статии, публикувани между 2009г. и 2012г. във вестник Гардиън, може да забележите идеи, които впоследствие ще прераснат в пълнокръвни сценарии за някои от епизодите на брилятния му сериал "Black Mirror" (направете си услугата и изгледайте трите сезона; не притежава и частица от достойнствата на "НАЙ-ВЕЛИКИЯ" сериал: кръв, цици, сняг и дракони например..., но може и да ви допадне).
January 12, 2021
Reading this ten years after these columns were feels slightly Orwellian in that in a very real sense some of the programmes discussed no longer exist, as if someone decided that the trial of Gary glitter or the naked office were so far beyond the pale that nobody should ever see them again.
Elsewhere there are columns mentioning long forgotten situations and characters that cultural historians might briefly struggle to remember, would modern readers believe in fried egg crisps or that week dreams were recorded in flashing lights, maybe none of these existed and the columns are merely works of fiction that in 100 years scholars of forgotten tales will reimagine in unread dissertations.
Elsewhere there are columns mentioning long forgotten situations and characters that cultural historians might briefly struggle to remember, would modern readers believe in fried egg crisps or that week dreams were recorded in flashing lights, maybe none of these existed and the columns are merely works of fiction that in 100 years scholars of forgotten tales will reimagine in unread dissertations.
July 11, 2018
Only the 2nd book that I've read in the past 30 years... that actually, genuinely, literally made me laugh out loud when reading it. I'm a miserable sod eh? Rather like the author.
Highly recommended for miserable misanthropes like me.
Be warned though... the feeling of a smile playing across your mouth... and then... horror of horrors... a chortle... may be something you're not used to.
You have been warned.
Highly recommended for miserable misanthropes like me.
Be warned though... the feeling of a smile playing across your mouth... and then... horror of horrors... a chortle... may be something you're not used to.
You have been warned.
March 4, 2019
Stilted style. Unpleasant and unrelatable. As the title suggests, just one giant bitch fest from start to finish but from a Brit's point of view: British subject matter, British politics, etc. Leaves us mere colonists out in the cold. I had high hopes for this book as I am a huge fan of Charlie Booker. In the end, the caustic negativity left me wondering why I had invited such into my life, much less wasted money on it.
August 9, 2019
He can make you hate, but not this book
Although it's a collection of articles, editorias andva couple of excerps from his TV show we monologues rather than a new collection of writing especially for this volume, the majority was new to me. I may not always agree with Mr Brooker, but he is always amusingly acerbic and makes very good points.
If you enjoy his comedy then you'll enjoy this book
Although it's a collection of articles, editorias andva couple of excerps from his TV show we monologues rather than a new collection of writing especially for this volume, the majority was new to me. I may not always agree with Mr Brooker, but he is always amusingly acerbic and makes very good points.
If you enjoy his comedy then you'll enjoy this book
April 12, 2023
Solid entry into Brooker’s bibliography. Loses a few marks for the excerpts of TV shows - felt a bit like cop out filler. Interesting place in time on reflection: post-labour; pre-EU referendum. Literary proof that things get worse over time, the social ills ranted on in this seem almost quaint by today’s standards
February 10, 2025
Often really funny with a good idea and punchline. However, many essays no longer have the same impact as they did when they responded to current events and people. Also, as someone who isn’t a native Brit, I didn’t fully grasp all the references to politics and/or TV shows. Nevertheless, the essays on more timeless topics remain strong and on point - those I would recommend reading.
May 30, 2019
Black Mirror is, in my opinion, the best show currently on TV. Charlie Brooker, the mind behind Black Mirror, reminds me of George Orwell (in Orwell's essays and diaries) in his ability to destroy any piece of idiotic media while slowing assembling raw material for something more subversive.
May 9, 2020
This is my fourth collection of Brooker's Grauniad columns. I'm almost certain I read some of these when they were first printed, but it doesn't matter. He's very good at this kind of stuff. I think I've read these to make up for being too scared to watch Black Mirror. Is that weird?
August 6, 2017
Hilarious. In fact at one point (probably page 106) i laughed so hard that i ruptured my left lung.
September 17, 2018
Me lo han recomendado porque tiene una lectura facil de comprender, y asi mejorar mi ingles
November 7, 2020
More of the same,he doesn't like the Tories but now,apparently,regrets making cruel comments about people.Oh,and the world economy didn't collapse.
March 1, 2021
Nice selection of articles, felt a bit repetitive and much reading solely this book, would probably have been better to read the articles randomly
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