Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Dear Mr Blair You may remember me-we met at a Norwegian Leather Industry reception at the House of Commons in 1999..." (more)
Key Phrases: two serious girls, granny annexe, home entertainment centre, Michael Flowers, Rat Wharf, Weapons of Mass Destruction (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This fifth installment of Adrian Mole's diary (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4; Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years, etc.) breaks new ground with its concern for current affairs and its sympathetic treatment of not-always-exemplary characters. Adrian, as usual, is struggling with various relationships and with constant financial problems, always trying to do the right thing, but usually giving in to his baser urges, in love and in spending. He becomes accidentally engaged to dollhouse-building homebody Marigold while spending flirtatious evenings with childhood love Pandora; fires off missives to the likes of Tony Blair and Tim Henman; and works, genuinely, to be a good father, friend and ex-husband to a cast of often bizarre but always human characters. Townsend, author of numerous non-Adrian novels, plays and nonfiction, makes Adrian's adult disorientation palpable as he tries to figure out how he went from hosting a popular television show to working in a failing second-hand bookshop, and copes with the shock of seeing childhood bullies make good and childhood dreams go awry. Arguments about the war figure prominently: one of Adrian's sons is sent to Iraq; his best friend, Robert, is there, too. Adrian's reactions to the war are complex, funny and wrenching. By the time the diary breaks off (on Sunday, July 22, 2004), things are looking up for Adrian and a bridesmaid—and he is considering (to her consternation) writing an autobiography. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

In the Adrian Mole diaries, Townsend has brought her hero from teenage angst to single parenthood, brief television stardom, and near bankruptcy. In the sixth installment, Adrian is 34 but still not connecting with life's realities. He has cancelled a holiday in Cyprus because of Tony Blair's warnings that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction could target the island in 45 minutes, but his travel agent won't refund his 57.10 deposit until evidence of the WMDs is put forward. So, Adrian writes a letter to Mr. Blair requesting such proof. He buys a ridiculous flat, complete with rats and marauding swans, with a down payment from his credit card. He gets involved with a disturbed young woman, whose family is only too happy to have him take her off their hands. And his parents have sold their home and bought a pigsty, literally, with a plan to renovate and live the country high life. Through it all, Townsend treats the serious issues seriously, but the rest is just pure fun. Elizabeth Dickie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 332 pages
• Publisher: Soho Press; First Edition edition (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569474060
• ISBN-13: 978-1569474068
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #811,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful return..., January 7, 2006

By	M. Nichols (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Adrian Mole is back, hitting 35, and his life is still a well intentioned shambles. Working at a used book store, deeply in debt, he still retains the charming naivite that made his youthful diaries so entertaining. I read Sue Townsend for the first time when I was in high school and much like the "35 Up" film series, keep returning to catch up with her delightful creation every five to seven years. Adrian never really changes, just accumulates more life experience and muddles on. He is as original a character as any I've ever read.

This volume is attuned to the times... the title itself hints at the emotional arc of the story. Adrian has some growing up to do, and does it by the journal's end. "Mass" is not without its poignant moments -- Adrian's son is serving in the war, for instance-- but it is never a downer.

Highly recommended to fans of the original. You won't be disappointed.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the absolute best of the angsting Adrian Mole series,, December 22, 2005

By	A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

We've known Adrian Mole since his diaries were first published at the tender age of 13 and three quarters - (thanks Sue Townsend for finding them!) He has angsted his Generation X life through a painful adolescence, embarrassed and humiliated by his baby-boomer parents, with a constant and noble (if sometimes base) adoration for Pandora Braithwaite.

In this latest wonderful outing of his diaries Adrian is in his 30's, a solo father who works in a second-hand bookshop (he is no longer a chef at Offally Good). Townsend successfully links the political situation in Britain with Adrian Mole to hilarious effect. The book opens with (and frequently refers back to) Adrian Moles attempt to get a refund from the travel agent for a canceled holiday to the mediterranean - cancelled because Mole believes Tony Blair would never lie when he says there is a threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Mole spends the book writing to Mr Blair, the British Prime Minister, asking him for a letter confirming the WMD because the travel agency won't refund his money.

Adrian meets the woman of his dreams, (who turns out to be the manipulating harridan of his nightmares) as she and her family drag him deeper into a manipulative nightmare - and in an utterly hilarious reflection of his earlier problems with the travel agency, he ends up sending her and her mother on an all expenses paid holiday to the mediterranean while he has to stay at home.

Townsend's writing is clever, sympathetic and full of underlying humour about both the social and political situation in Britain. I have really enjoyed the Adrian Mole series, the Capuccino years was good - but this one was GREAT - I look forward to following Mole through to his dotage.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Offally good!, November 19, 2005

By	Jessica Bailey "anglophile42" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (Audio CD)

I loved the first two books in the Adrian Mole series but was a bit let down by the Wilderness and Cappuccino years--however, the Weapons of Mass Destruction show Sue Townsend at her comic best again. I laughed outloud and couldn't put the book down. I was also moved by how effectively Townsend addressed the war in Iraq without making it heavy-handed. The end of the book is sad but wonderful...