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The embarrassing parents: social stereotypes from the Telegraph Magazine
Excellent Book
96 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 4, 2016
I adore the Social Stereotype series of books by Mather & McCartney-Snape. Hilarious, from start to end page. More, please!
June 23, 2022
This book was pressed upon me by someone whose reading tastes are very different from mine (she begins, defensively).
This book is pretty much what it says on the cover - a collection of social stereotypes. They are one page character sketches. There's no story, no real plot. Just a collection of characters.
I read this at a time when my country was in the throes of an economic crisis, with people queuing for over 24 hours for fuel, searching for essential medicine and trying to cut down amidst skyrocketing grocery prices. Given that my day job requires me to keep an eye on the news, every day has brought relentless bad news and absurdity, both in my country and outside. It was largely this that made me finally pick this book up. I felt I needed a break from doomscrolling, and felt a little frivolity might be a good distraction.
I have to say that the writer and illustrator have a razor sharp sense of humour, drawing their portraits with unrelenting accuracy, and with a particular focus on the upper middle class in the UK. Perhaps because of this, these portraits are almost entirely white (had to say it). But they are deeply recognisable as characters, from the art curator to the gap year student and the perpetually bored student model. What's more they are recognisable not just in London but in Colombo as well (if you know, you know). This sense of recognition was what made the book enjoyable but also difficult to read. After all, we're living in a time of selfishness, and surrounded by examples of obliviousness everywhere we look, in almost every country (from the pandemic, to the oncoming recession, etc etc). Do we really need to be reminded? I couldn't escape thinking that the problems the characters fretted over in one page were so very distant to what we were all experiencing. So that made it difficult to read, but at the same time, there is something to learn from the writing. The witty sketches were really well-written and did touch on some unspoken truths. In that sense, it was an entertaining read - although I can't say it offered me an escape from reality. I guess read if you really want something frivolous?
This book is pretty much what it says on the cover - a collection of social stereotypes. They are one page character sketches. There's no story, no real plot. Just a collection of characters.
I read this at a time when my country was in the throes of an economic crisis, with people queuing for over 24 hours for fuel, searching for essential medicine and trying to cut down amidst skyrocketing grocery prices. Given that my day job requires me to keep an eye on the news, every day has brought relentless bad news and absurdity, both in my country and outside. It was largely this that made me finally pick this book up. I felt I needed a break from doomscrolling, and felt a little frivolity might be a good distraction.
I have to say that the writer and illustrator have a razor sharp sense of humour, drawing their portraits with unrelenting accuracy, and with a particular focus on the upper middle class in the UK. Perhaps because of this, these portraits are almost entirely white (had to say it). But they are deeply recognisable as characters, from the art curator to the gap year student and the perpetually bored student model. What's more they are recognisable not just in London but in Colombo as well (if you know, you know). This sense of recognition was what made the book enjoyable but also difficult to read. After all, we're living in a time of selfishness, and surrounded by examples of obliviousness everywhere we look, in almost every country (from the pandemic, to the oncoming recession, etc etc). Do we really need to be reminded? I couldn't escape thinking that the problems the characters fretted over in one page were so very distant to what we were all experiencing. So that made it difficult to read, but at the same time, there is something to learn from the writing. The witty sketches were really well-written and did touch on some unspoken truths. In that sense, it was an entertaining read - although I can't say it offered me an escape from reality. I guess read if you really want something frivolous?
October 17, 2022
I don’t know where this one came from, lurking unread in a far corner of the bookcase. I suspect it was a Christmas present offered in the hope of something humorous on the basis of the title, especially as I’d just become a dad when it was published … however, humorous it’s not.
These satirical portraits stand in a long tradition of snoots sniping at other snoots for complicit titters in closed social circles. It’s very unpleasant to read, despite being very well written and illustrated, because of the sheer negativity of picking petty faults with others in a way that only reveals the faults of the critic.
Perhaps this is too meta a type of humour for me. I just find both the critics and their victims set me on edge. It’s brutal bullying under a fraying veneer of social climbing sophistication. It’s ugly.
I found myself unamused by portrait after portrait, skim reading, skipping chunks, then flipping the pages, just to obtain the relief of leaving, much like the relief of leaving a cringeworthy neighbour’s party or - worse - a decades-later school reunion when everyone has long drifted apart. Urgh. Shudder inducing.
These satirical portraits stand in a long tradition of snoots sniping at other snoots for complicit titters in closed social circles. It’s very unpleasant to read, despite being very well written and illustrated, because of the sheer negativity of picking petty faults with others in a way that only reveals the faults of the critic.
Perhaps this is too meta a type of humour for me. I just find both the critics and their victims set me on edge. It’s brutal bullying under a fraying veneer of social climbing sophistication. It’s ugly.
I found myself unamused by portrait after portrait, skim reading, skipping chunks, then flipping the pages, just to obtain the relief of leaving, much like the relief of leaving a cringeworthy neighbour’s party or - worse - a decades-later school reunion when everyone has long drifted apart. Urgh. Shudder inducing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews