The World According to Clarkson [Paperback]

Jeremy Clarkson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2010

The world is an exciting and confusing place for Jeremy Clarkson - a man who can find the overgrown schoolboy in us all. In "The World According to Clarkson", one of the country's funniest comic writers has free reign to expose absurdity, celebrate eccentricity and entertain richly in the process. And the net is cast wide: from the chronic unsuitablity of men to look after children for long periods or as operators of 'white goods', Nimbyism, cricket and PlayStations, to astronomy, David Beckham, 70's rock, the demise of Concorde, the burden of an Eton education and the shocking failure of Tom Clancy to make it on to the Booker shortlist, "The World According to Clarkson" is a hilarious snapshot of the life in the 21st century that will have readers wincing with embarrassed recognition and crying with laughter. It's not about the cars!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeremy Clarkson made his name presenting a poky motoring programme on BBC2 called Top Gear. He left to forge a career in other directions but made a complete hash of everything and ended up back on Top Gear again. He lives with his wife, Francie, and three children in Oxfordshire. Despite this he has a clean driving licence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Global (March 24, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141017899
• ISBN-13: 978-0141017891
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love It!!!, May 1, 2008

By 

Melinda Burnett "Springlering" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The World According to Clarkson (Paperback)

A moment ago, I wrote a review of a CD that was so horrible, I ejected it after the fifth track,and left it on a desk in hopes someone would steal it.

Well, now I'm going to review The World According to Clarkson even though I haven't finished it, either. Unfinished, and for a completely different reason.

Why? Because I am so thoroughly enjoying this book I'm trying to draaaaag it out to savour as long as possible, and then praying there's a followup book.

I only ordered this book because, yes, I am a slavvering American fan of Top Gear, Wikipedia'd it for more info, and found out that all three presenters are also journalists. Since Top Gear tickles me so much, I thought what the heck, and ordered a sampling of books from each.

What a wicked good surprise this book is. Not motor related at all, it's like a modern day Erma Bombeck crossed with Politically Incorrect, with a particular penchant for tormenting the environmentally overcorrect. A collection of newspaper columns, Clarkson covers (occasionally rants) on everything from holidays to politics to children to cunning rodents. I can literally hear his voice gravelling out his bombastic but too,too funny pronouncements.

Jeremy Clarkson, if I were a man (and thank God for my husband that I'm not!) I would want to be you. Making lots of burning rubber and squealing sounds in fast cars, living in the delectable English countryside, writing witty stuff, irritating the humor-deficient, and getting away with it. And drawing an absurdly fat (but well deserved) paycheck all the while. (*goggles at the unfairness of it all*)

Or, as my kids would say, "well, s*cks for you, Mom". Yeah, it does.

Think of this book as the verbal equivalent of being behind the wheel of a Veyron on a race from the Riviera to the NatWest Tower. Damn good fun. Don't want it to end.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Jeremy Clarkson, July 5, 2011

By 

Evgeniya - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World According to Clarkson (Kindle Edition)

I've read most of his books and this is by far the best one. It was the funniest, the fastest-moving, the most diverse and did not contain a lot of the British references that flood his later "According to Clarkson" books and are lost to anyone who has not lived in Britain at least half of their life.

Caveat: You should understand this book is a collection of short articles on whatever comes to J.Clarkson's mind, and you probably do have to like Jeremy Clarkson (or at least his manner of writing and describing things and situations) at least a bit to enjoy this book (as well as any other book of his). But in any case I do strongly recommend you try this one out.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Motor wit, April 10, 2008

By 

Bo Østergaard Jepsen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The World According to Clarkson (Paperback)

How can you not like anybody who is actually so delightfully and utterly un-PC?

Clarkson serves up a collection of his columns and describes anything and everything in his own (sort of) witty, boyish, yobish, chavy, very loud mouthed way. He talkes absolute nonsense most of the time, but it is a different voice amongst the endless masses of political corretness and general niceness that perveates the modern media. Read it for fun, it's a fun read.

I must say though, that some of the columns might be a bit dated, which when you know it really isn't that much of a bother.