Rating: 3/5
Moranifesto was...unexpected.
I think that's the best word I can find to describe it. It was very interesting, and funny, and at times challenging. But unexpected is the best word for my experience.
It was also very, very English. Not only in focus, but also in the writing style.
For anyone who doesn't know, and I imagine outside of England this book isn't very widely-read, Moranifesto is a collection of journalist and writer Caitlin Moran's columns from her writing in The Times newspaper. Her pieces are a range of TV reviews, political opinions, social observations, debates about tights, and whole lot of funny insights into everyday life.
What I loved about this book was that I could pick it up, read an article, and put it down. There was no commitment. I left it on my desk at work because of this. It was easy to read during my break as it didn't matter if somebody disturbed me or if I couldn't focus on it for long. Though I can't say I'd love to read this format regularly, it was perfect for the work setting; it got me away from my work, gave me something new to think about every day, and often provoked conversation with my colleagues.
I shall return to my comment on it being 'very English' though, as I feel I should explain what makes me point this out. Not just the politics, or the references to British occasions like the Jubilee or the 2012 Olympics, but all of the content relies on an understanding of British culture which I don't think you can have if you haven't lived here. It's the quaint way we observe ourselves like no other country seems to (have a look at 'TV Review: Shakespeare & David Bowie - England's Beautiful Boys') summed up in a series of columns about British events, big and small, by a thoroughly British writer.
Moran has a really humorous, ironic style to her writing. Whilst I think the humour is very classically English (look, the whole book is English. If you want to figure out an English person, read this book), it's undeniably funny and relatable (check 'No One Wants to Go Out').
It's also incredibly touching. Maybe it was just my emotional state after watching the latest episode of The Good Place but reading 'To Teenage Girls on the Edge' definitely made me cry. Moran is intelligent and funny, but what struck me most was that she was so human. Reading Moranifesto was like grabbing coffee with a friend; each column is a topic of conversation and you might not know how you got onto it but it's fascinating and you just want to find out what they think of it.
I'm not sure whether to say I recommend it or not because it's definitely interesting but it's also so very English that people outside of the UK might not get the humour or the cultural references. It's also a couple of years old so the reference points don't always work but ya know...being late to the party has never stopped me before.
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