Here We Go Again...: Unpublished Letters to the Daily Telegraph

Unpublished Letters to The Daily Telegraph #14

by Kate Moore

In another surreal and unprecedented year in which even the most seasoned commentators have struggled to keep pace with the news cycle, letter writers to The Daily Telegraph have once again provided their refreshing and witty take on events. 

Now in its fourteenth year, this new edition of the best-selling series is a review of the year made up of the wry and astute observations of the unpublished Telegraph letter writers.
 
Readers of the Telegraph Letters Page will be fondly aware of the eclectic combination of learned wisdom, wistful nostalgia and robust good sense of humour that characterise its correspondence – and this volume contains yet more pearls of insight.

From Putin and the war in Ukraine to Boris Johnson and Partygate to Liz Truss and the cost of living crisis, no one escapes their hilariously whimsical and sometimes risqué musings.

With an agenda as enticing as ever, the fourteenth book in the bestselling Unpublished Letters series will prove, once again, that the Telegraph’s readers still have a shrewd sense of what really matters.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2022

About the author

KATE MOORE started writing obituaries for The Daily Telegraph in 2013 and joined the Letters desk as an assistant editor the following year. She now splits her time between the two departments. Kate edited So, That Went Well..., the 2019 collection of unpublished letters.

(Source: Amazon.)

Reviews

[Paul Falk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Countless letters to the editor of The Daily Telegraph express the mood of many citizens of the UK, with a touch of humor and a splash of disdain. This collection provides a quick pick-me-up when all else has failed. It was an enjoyable read.

My thanks to Netgalley for the loan of this book in exchange for providing an unbiased review.

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prvi put čitam nešto iz ovog serijala, tako da nisam znala šta da očekujem. Nažalost, zajedljiva pisma ovih dokonih penzionera o Putinu, ratu u Ukrajini, Borisu Džonsonu i raznim trivijalnostima britanske politike me nisu mnogo nasmejala. Sad da li sam naletela na lošu godinu ili su i ostale knjižice u sličnom tonu, to ne bih znala.

[Betty Merkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

With witty humor laid out in a criminally simplistic way, Here We Go Again feels relatable and contemporary by putting on paper what we were all thinking. Kate Moore does fantastic work, stringing together bite sized comedy and nailing the satirical tone expected of the Unpublished Letters series. In the introduction, Moore sets scene straight away with a smart and fast humor everyone alive in 2022 can understand. Whether to binge all in one day, or take one page at a time, it’s the perfect book for a gut punch laugh or an eye roll from time to time.

[Astrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you just need a book that you can pick up and put down again, something to make you laugh that doesn't take up a lot of time. Life can be so busy and "Here we go again" was just what I needed. Sure, not everything was hysterically funny - but that is to be expected. However, funny enough for me to enjoy going through the book - and maybe re-read it in the future. Makes a nice present too.

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's another in this series of books. What else do you need to know? It's about the year 2022, when uber-woke lefty nutjobs forced pronoun-specifying name badges on bank staff, and the same might have applied to GPs but nobody could ever see one in situ to know for sure. It's the year the Queen had a Jubilee, appointed Paddington Bear as an honorary consort (or something), and died – the latter too recently to be included on these pages, by the look of it. English cricketers were out almost as fast as Tory Prime Ministers, and equally useless were the Navy staffers not able to sail on the pride of fleet aircraft carriers, due to the ships being crap, merely sat stroking their semi-automatic weapons and wondering what could stop those Albanian drug runners crossing the channel in rubber inflated boats. And someone mistakenly caught something out the corner of their eye and mistook it for Starmer having a policy about something.

This shows the quirks of the letter-writers of Britain – except it doesn't, for the vast majority are from the Home Counties. I think there was more content from expats in Australia than from Scotland. It reminds you, as do all these books, that the country is definitely close to posting a classified ad reading "Handcart for sale, one use (in the direction of Hell) only. £50 ONO." It delights in the quick, perky riposte to the shiteness of the world, and if not that then her grammar. It is an institution. It's another in this series of books.

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

+Love the format, short letters written to the Telegraph.
+Love that they were often funny (I read a few aloud to my hubby).
+Love that people didn't shy away from telling the truth.
+Love the sections even if the politics one wasn't my favourite.
-A whole section on politics. 1) not a fan of politics 2) don't know much about politics in the UK, only just bits here and there
-Would have loved to see what headlines/article people were responding to, would just have given that extra bit and made me understand some of the letters better.

All in all, this was fun! I would love it if my Dutch newspapers do something similar.

[LimeCream · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books, and always drop heavy hints before Christmas. They're an amusing reminder of the previous year and I keep them all as easy-to-refer-to social histories. I was delighted to be allowed a sneak peek at this year's offering. It didn't disappoint. No doubt I'll get a hard copy in my stocking, so that will go onto the self with the others in the series and will be dipped into when I have a spare minute or two.

As you would expect of The Telegraph, the political leaning is to the right, but you can enjoy these whatever your politics (speaking from my own left leaning outlook).

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me an early look at this delightful book.

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this collection of super smart and witty letters to the editor of the Daily Telegraph, a London newspaper of quality. Although most of the subject matter is UK-based, so many of these submissions had me laughing out loud it wasn't easy to decide on a favourite! Nevertheless, from reader Martyn Thomas of Monmouthshire:

SIR - It must be time for M16 to recall Agent Putin before he is assassinated. He has unified Ukraine and filled it with national pride, restored NATO solidarity, trashed the Russian economy, humiliated the Red Army and closed Russia down. No politician would do this to his country unless...

[Kate: The Quick and the Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and quick read which includes a selection of unpublished readers' letters to 'The Daily Telegraph'.

I liked that is covered a range of topics = politics, royalty, the weather, TV and lots more - with each addressed by a range of humorous letters. Some of them made me laugh out loud and lots were very relatable. I can't say that I agreed with all the political stances being expressed, but I enjoyed the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is the latest in a series that is published yearly by The Daily Telegraph. It consists of unpublished letters that were sent to the paper. Just a couple of the chapter headings include Family Trials and Tribulations, and Traveling Hopefully. Dip in and out. Many of the letters will make readers smile.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

[zoe Hitchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A witty and at times acerbic read.
The format makes it a quick read , which doesn’t need to be finished in one sitting, although I did!
The book contains unpublished letters to The Daily Telegraph and it takes the reader through the year of current affairs in its own entertaining and unique way .
Highly recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of letters which covers all aspects of British life, from the pandemic to Brexit. It is just the thing to lift your spirits! Many of these smart letters are also hilarious, and some are fantastic one-liners. I especially liked the one by the lady who longs for a 'precedented' life!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Ines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just discovered this format has been around for 14 years already and I fear I've been quite missing out. So many topics are covered! Some references I didn't get or had to google them because I'm not a native speaker. But it was really funny in that sense of humour only the British have mastered.

[Vnunez-Ms_luv2read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, you just need a book that will make you laugh and just feel good. This is that book. Easy read and entertaining. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Reading this book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

[Odette Lattimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for advanced copy. I am a massive fan of this series and loved this.

Light hearted and will make a great present

Highly recommended

[Susie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly amusing, but not the laugh out loud I was expecting. Although very apt and some good points made.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good and sometimes hilarious read. Huge entertainment. I enjoyed reading the book and discussing the topics with my friends. More books like that!

[Linda Humberstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the job to take your mind off what is happening in the world today because you can't beat the British satirical and lampooning sense of humour!

[Sianne Wardle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was laugh out loud funny! If you have had a bad day or having a catch up with friends read this book! I will definitely be reading it multiple times

[Anjana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read two previous collections - liked the first, and the second was not bad, but for some reason, I wanted to give this a try as well.
Like any collection of short pieces, there are some funnier than others. I found this set to be more interesting than the earlier one. I knew more about what people were talking about. I am unsure where on the political line the newspaper lies since I do not live in the country, but as an actually unbiased reader (since I have no stake in any of the mentioned events), I found the ordinary people's thoughts quite entertaining.
The letters are divided by category, making it easy to stop, skip and return if necessary.
There is not much I can say as part of a review except that this is not something that will appeal to everybody, but for people who are okay with picking up a couple of pages of text at a time, it will be funny.
I actually find it funny to imagine the people working on these thoughts and ensuring they note them before they send them in!
It is slightly less heavy emotionally than the previous collections on this side of the pandemic, an that might have helped me like it more.
I received this book as an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and the previous collections.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a winner for me in my Christmas stocking, still going strong after fourteen years.

These unpublished reader's letters to the Daily Telegraph range on topics far and wide including Partygate, Boris Johnson's stint as Prime Minister, the NHS, the Omicron variant, and the Royal Family.

Perfect to dip in and out of, always amusing, these readers really do write the most amusing letters. Perfect for the angry person in your life, keep it by the loo, or (more hygienic) on your bedside table for that amusing antidote to everyday life.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't as funny as I had hoped, but it did have some amusing letters, covering local, national and international news. One of the most amusing letters:

SIR--Dr Nick Watts, the Chief Sustainability Officer for NHS, points out that not having to travel to GP surgeries for face-to-face consultations has led to a reduction in carbon emissions. Next week perhaps he will point out that being unable to access medical help has caused many people to stop breathing, reducing carbon emissions even further. Ray Cantrell--Colchester, Essex

(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the author or publisher.)