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 Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
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Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
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Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
The ultimate lifesaver, 31 Jan 2003
I try always to have this book at home and selfishly never lend it. The reason - it has been of great help when I was recovering from my last "wet" relapse. It contains short, witty and extremely to the point sayings: short so you can read them before the shakes make you drop the book, humorous for when you're disgusted with yourself, and to the point 'cause this is a serious, deadly illness. I hope never to feel like that last time but to continue using this book to show off at meetings (has anyone said anything about humility?).
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
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Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
The ultimate lifesaver, 31 Jan 2003
I try always to have this book at home and selfishly never lend it. The reason - it has been of great help when I was recovering from my last "wet" relapse. It contains short, witty and extremely to the point sayings: short so you can read them before the shakes make you drop the book, humorous for when you're disgusted with yourself, and to the point 'cause this is a serious, deadly illness. I hope never to feel like that last time but to continue using this book to show off at meetings (has anyone said anything about humility?).
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
Brilliant, 12 Apr 2008
I read through the whole of this book in one sitting! I have read as lot of self help books and books on CBT, REBT etc. but this book is a great leveller - bringing you down to earth. It shows exactly how we behave to make ourselves unhappy and as a side effect shows how we can make ourselves feel better. I was in a wonderful state of mind after reading it. It is like suddenly realising the sense of things rather than the mind wirling with all the theories from the self help books. Makes things much clearer.
Hopelessly Revealing..., 22 May 2006
Delicious! Wonderfully smile-inducing, playful and profound. This is Watzlawick at his best, utilising the MRI's whole gambit of tactics and ploys to induce an inverse state in the reader away from miserable thinking (darn it, and rightfully so!).
Watzlawick peppers his witty text with all manner of story and analogy that illuminates and delights. If you like this then also try his 'Ultra-solutions' (not quite as good but fine all the same) or his 'The Invented Reality' that has some very interesting ideas on self-fulfilling prophecy and also the sobering and scary essay (especially if your either a mental health professional or service user) 'On being sane in insane places'.
A most fulsome read that seriously hopelessy fails to not en-wisen and transfix!
Enjoy
KILL UNHAPPINESS WITH LAUGHTER AND SELF CRITICISM, 25 Nov 2002
A wonderful, witty, exposé of our endeavors to live a more miserable life by Watzlawick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University. The treatment of the subject will surely make you laugh at yourself and thus, perhaps, contribute to make you a better person.
W. deals with the fundamental, painful, necessity of the human being to be unhappy (in order to be quiet). And in fact, he contends that the best chapters of universal literature dwell with disaster, tragedy, guilt, madness, etc.
Dante's Inferno-W. writes- is very superior to his Paradise; same case as Milton's Paradise Lost compared with his Paradise Regained; Faust I's greatness is proportionally inverse to the tediousness of Faust II. So the author embarks hilariously in a methodic introduction to the best and more verifiable mechanisms to achieve unhappiness. Samples:
Always be truthful to yourself. A principle, from Polonius in Hamlet,of the outmost necessity for us ( its application is what gets the guy killed by Hamlet like a rat). So then, we must resist any temptation to yield to any other criteria or opinion, apart from ours. Never compromise or accept someone else's advice. The author then addresses the issue of the old saying: "time cures all wounds"..... According to W. four sound mechanisms exist if you want to avoid time's healing effects and transform the past into a present source of suffering. In the exaltation of the past we find those that only remember the good things about their youth and not the years of insecurity and anxiety. In so doing, they have a consistent reserve of sadness about their miserable present...... Also, this fidelity to the past, impairs our ability to enjoy the present and fully dedicate our efforts to the endeavors of the moment. Another mechanism is to consistently dwell with the guilt complex that past errors create, finding excuses or scapegoats (our parents, God, chromosomes, teachers etc.) while doing nothing to avoid committing the same mistakes again.
The author drives his point with practical examples. For instance the story of the hammer. A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. Therefore it occurs to him to go over to the neighbor and ask him to lend him his hammer. But at this point, doubt sets in. What if he doesn't want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday he barely spoke to me. Maybe he was in a hurry. Or, perhaps, he holds something against me. But why? I didn't do anything to him. If he would ask me to lend him something, I would, at once. How can he refuse to lend me his hammer? People like him make other people's life miserable. Worst, he thinks that I need him because he has a hammer. This is got to stop ! And suddenly the guy runs to the neighbor's door, rings, and before letting him say anything, he screams: "You can keep your hammer, you b......"
Watzlawick not only discussess techniques to create false problems, but also the ones that make it actually possible to avoid solving problems and conver them into eternal torments. Here we get the example of the man that claps his hands every ten seconds. Asked why he does that, he answers: "to drive away the elephants..." -"But why, there are no elephants here"- The guy says: "Precisely".
This is a very funny book. It deals, with a fresh and delightful approach, with many of our karmas and mind bothering mosquitoes......
5 crowns? Frightening or brilliant? If I were sure....., 05 Mar 1999
Attracted to Watzlawick's work after recommended to read "Change" I decided to try some more. Began to be perplexed, taking seriously the idea that it could be his aim to be unhappy. "We need unhappiness" he says early on. If I agree it is that we might know happiness, as knowing light because of darkness, etc. Later examples I begin to recognise and wonder. It is perfectly possible to become Relationship Destruction Experts and there may be some of it in all of us. The dark humour (I think) tells us that we can learn to destroy the happiness we could enjoy with others. We don't need to do that. Read it right through at one sitting, as I almost did. Then try reviewing it and see how you rate it. The whole reading changed my view of it as I went; the review made me realise that, and made my mind up. I am sure now. 5 crowns, not 3.
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The Book of the Subgenius
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
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*Amazon: £5.18
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Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
The ultimate lifesaver, 31 Jan 2003
I try always to have this book at home and selfishly never lend it. The reason - it has been of great help when I was recovering from my last "wet" relapse. It contains short, witty and extremely to the point sayings: short so you can read them before the shakes make you drop the book, humorous for when you're disgusted with yourself, and to the point 'cause this is a serious, deadly illness. I hope never to feel like that last time but to continue using this book to show off at meetings (has anyone said anything about humility?).
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
Brilliant, 12 Apr 2008
I read through the whole of this book in one sitting! I have read as lot of self help books and books on CBT, REBT etc. but this book is a great leveller - bringing you down to earth. It shows exactly how we behave to make ourselves unhappy and as a side effect shows how we can make ourselves feel better. I was in a wonderful state of mind after reading it. It is like suddenly realising the sense of things rather than the mind wirling with all the theories from the self help books. Makes things much clearer.
Hopelessly Revealing..., 22 May 2006
Delicious! Wonderfully smile-inducing, playful and profound. This is Watzlawick at his best, utilising the MRI's whole gambit of tactics and ploys to induce an inverse state in the reader away from miserable thinking (darn it, and rightfully so!).
Watzlawick peppers his witty text with all manner of story and analogy that illuminates and delights. If you like this then also try his 'Ultra-solutions' (not quite as good but fine all the same) or his 'The Invented Reality' that has some very interesting ideas on self-fulfilling prophecy and also the sobering and scary essay (especially if your either a mental health professional or service user) 'On being sane in insane places'.
A most fulsome read that seriously hopelessy fails to not en-wisen and transfix!
Enjoy
KILL UNHAPPINESS WITH LAUGHTER AND SELF CRITICISM, 25 Nov 2002
A wonderful, witty, exposé of our endeavors to live a more miserable life by Watzlawick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University. The treatment of the subject will surely make you laugh at yourself and thus, perhaps, contribute to make you a better person.
W. deals with the fundamental, painful, necessity of the human being to be unhappy (in order to be quiet). And in fact, he contends that the best chapters of universal literature dwell with disaster, tragedy, guilt, madness, etc.
Dante's Inferno-W. writes- is very superior to his Paradise; same case as Milton's Paradise Lost compared with his Paradise Regained; Faust I's greatness is proportionally inverse to the tediousness of Faust II. So the author embarks hilariously in a methodic introduction to the best and more verifiable mechanisms to achieve unhappiness. Samples:
Always be truthful to yourself. A principle, from Polonius in Hamlet,of the outmost necessity for us ( its application is what gets the guy killed by Hamlet like a rat). So then, we must resist any temptation to yield to any other criteria or opinion, apart from ours. Never compromise or accept someone else's advice. The author then addresses the issue of the old saying: "time cures all wounds"..... According to W. four sound mechanisms exist if you want to avoid time's healing effects and transform the past into a present source of suffering. In the exaltation of the past we find those that only remember the good things about their youth and not the years of insecurity and anxiety. In so doing, they have a consistent reserve of sadness about their miserable present...... Also, this fidelity to the past, impairs our ability to enjoy the present and fully dedicate our efforts to the endeavors of the moment. Another mechanism is to consistently dwell with the guilt complex that past errors create, finding excuses or scapegoats (our parents, God, chromosomes, teachers etc.) while doing nothing to avoid committing the same mistakes again.
The author drives his point with practical examples. For instance the story of the hammer. A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. Therefore it occurs to him to go over to the neighbor and ask him to lend him his hammer. But at this point, doubt sets in. What if he doesn't want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday he barely spoke to me. Maybe he was in a hurry. Or, perhaps, he holds something against me. But why? I didn't do anything to him. If he would ask me to lend him something, I would, at once. How can he refuse to lend me his hammer? People like him make other people's life miserable. Worst, he thinks that I need him because he has a hammer. This is got to stop ! And suddenly the guy runs to the neighbor's door, rings, and before letting him say anything, he screams: "You can keep your hammer, you b......"
Watzlawick not only discussess techniques to create false problems, but also the ones that make it actually possible to avoid solving problems and conver them into eternal torments. Here we get the example of the man that claps his hands every ten seconds. Asked why he does that, he answers: "to drive away the elephants..." -"But why, there are no elephants here"- The guy says: "Precisely".
This is a very funny book. It deals, with a fresh and delightful approach, with many of our karmas and mind bothering mosquitoes......
5 crowns? Frightening or brilliant? If I were sure....., 05 Mar 1999
Attracted to Watzlawick's work after recommended to read "Change" I decided to try some more. Began to be perplexed, taking seriously the idea that it could be his aim to be unhappy. "We need unhappiness" he says early on. If I agree it is that we might know happiness, as knowing light because of darkness, etc. Later examples I begin to recognise and wonder. It is perfectly possible to become Relationship Destruction Experts and there may be some of it in all of us. The dark humour (I think) tells us that we can learn to destroy the happiness we could enjoy with others. We don't need to do that. Read it right through at one sitting, as I almost did. Then try reviewing it and see how you rate it. The whole reading changed my view of it as I went; the review made me realise that, and made my mind up. I am sure now. 5 crowns, not 3.
Repent, Quit your job, Slack off!, 20 Jan 2006
Most people start out thinking that this book is a joke. It's hilarious, yes, but what you don't realise for a while is that it's funny because it's TRUE. There is a conspiracy, and it's actively trying to stop you from having a good time, from doing what you want, from HAVING SLACK. This book can move you both to uncontrollable, senseless laughter and to abject terror and sorrow. I have never read a book like this before.
This is the greatest book of the last millenium, 16 May 2001
Weirdfolk arise ! Stand erect for your own abnormailty ! unleash your mutant energies and praise "Bob" !!!!! Are you sick of getting all of the guilt ? but none of the sex ? Explore the secret techniques of the ancients and achieve the mighty GUT BLOWOUT. Learn to live in peace with your sins. Buy this book now - your very soul may depend on it. What other religion can offer "Eternal salvation or triple your money back" ??? Praise "Bob".
The "Third Way" for spiritual anarchists, 22 Jun 1999
This is the most important book ever published. It's religious satire, full of hip inside jokes. HA HA until you realise it's not a joke at all. You are sitting there holding in your hands a challenge to all mankind. Then the bowels loosen and we find out what kind of man or woman you really are: a pink? a normal? The guy with the best taste on the dance floor, who can mention the names of all the coolest pop badboys? Do you think your postmodern irony will protect you from the coming apocalypse? Then prepare to fry!
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Men Are Better Than Women
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
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*Amazon: £4.17
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Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
The ultimate lifesaver, 31 Jan 2003
I try always to have this book at home and selfishly never lend it. The reason - it has been of great help when I was recovering from my last "wet" relapse. It contains short, witty and extremely to the point sayings: short so you can read them before the shakes make you drop the book, humorous for when you're disgusted with yourself, and to the point 'cause this is a serious, deadly illness. I hope never to feel like that last time but to continue using this book to show off at meetings (has anyone said anything about humility?).
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
Brilliant, 12 Apr 2008
I read through the whole of this book in one sitting! I have read as lot of self help books and books on CBT, REBT etc. but this book is a great leveller - bringing you down to earth. It shows exactly how we behave to make ourselves unhappy and as a side effect shows how we can make ourselves feel better. I was in a wonderful state of mind after reading it. It is like suddenly realising the sense of things rather than the mind wirling with all the theories from the self help books. Makes things much clearer.
Hopelessly Revealing..., 22 May 2006
Delicious! Wonderfully smile-inducing, playful and profound. This is Watzlawick at his best, utilising the MRI's whole gambit of tactics and ploys to induce an inverse state in the reader away from miserable thinking (darn it, and rightfully so!).
Watzlawick peppers his witty text with all manner of story and analogy that illuminates and delights. If you like this then also try his 'Ultra-solutions' (not quite as good but fine all the same) or his 'The Invented Reality' that has some very interesting ideas on self-fulfilling prophecy and also the sobering and scary essay (especially if your either a mental health professional or service user) 'On being sane in insane places'.
A most fulsome read that seriously hopelessy fails to not en-wisen and transfix!
Enjoy
KILL UNHAPPINESS WITH LAUGHTER AND SELF CRITICISM, 25 Nov 2002
A wonderful, witty, exposé of our endeavors to live a more miserable life by Watzlawick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University. The treatment of the subject will surely make you laugh at yourself and thus, perhaps, contribute to make you a better person.
W. deals with the fundamental, painful, necessity of the human being to be unhappy (in order to be quiet). And in fact, he contends that the best chapters of universal literature dwell with disaster, tragedy, guilt, madness, etc.
Dante's Inferno-W. writes- is very superior to his Paradise; same case as Milton's Paradise Lost compared with his Paradise Regained; Faust I's greatness is proportionally inverse to the tediousness of Faust II. So the author embarks hilariously in a methodic introduction to the best and more verifiable mechanisms to achieve unhappiness. Samples:
Always be truthful to yourself. A principle, from Polonius in Hamlet,of the outmost necessity for us ( its application is what gets the guy killed by Hamlet like a rat). So then, we must resist any temptation to yield to any other criteria or opinion, apart from ours. Never compromise or accept someone else's advice. The author then addresses the issue of the old saying: "time cures all wounds"..... According to W. four sound mechanisms exist if you want to avoid time's healing effects and transform the past into a present source of suffering. In the exaltation of the past we find those that only remember the good things about their youth and not the years of insecurity and anxiety. In so doing, they have a consistent reserve of sadness about their miserable present...... Also, this fidelity to the past, impairs our ability to enjoy the present and fully dedicate our efforts to the endeavors of the moment. Another mechanism is to consistently dwell with the guilt complex that past errors create, finding excuses or scapegoats (our parents, God, chromosomes, teachers etc.) while doing nothing to avoid committing the same mistakes again.
The author drives his point with practical examples. For instance the story of the hammer. A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. Therefore it occurs to him to go over to the neighbor and ask him to lend him his hammer. But at this point, doubt sets in. What if he doesn't want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday he barely spoke to me. Maybe he was in a hurry. Or, perhaps, he holds something against me. But why? I didn't do anything to him. If he would ask me to lend him something, I would, at once. How can he refuse to lend me his hammer? People like him make other people's life miserable. Worst, he thinks that I need him because he has a hammer. This is got to stop ! And suddenly the guy runs to the neighbor's door, rings, and before letting him say anything, he screams: "You can keep your hammer, you b......"
Watzlawick not only discussess techniques to create false problems, but also the ones that make it actually possible to avoid solving problems and conver them into eternal torments. Here we get the example of the man that claps his hands every ten seconds. Asked why he does that, he answers: "to drive away the elephants..." -"But why, there are no elephants here"- The guy says: "Precisely".
This is a very funny book. It deals, with a fresh and delightful approach, with many of our karmas and mind bothering mosquitoes......
5 crowns? Frightening or brilliant? If I were sure....., 05 Mar 1999
Attracted to Watzlawick's work after recommended to read "Change" I decided to try some more. Began to be perplexed, taking seriously the idea that it could be his aim to be unhappy. "We need unhappiness" he says early on. If I agree it is that we might know happiness, as knowing light because of darkness, etc. Later examples I begin to recognise and wonder. It is perfectly possible to become Relationship Destruction Experts and there may be some of it in all of us. The dark humour (I think) tells us that we can learn to destroy the happiness we could enjoy with others. We don't need to do that. Read it right through at one sitting, as I almost did. Then try reviewing it and see how you rate it. The whole reading changed my view of it as I went; the review made me realise that, and made my mind up. I am sure now. 5 crowns, not 3.
Repent, Quit your job, Slack off!, 20 Jan 2006
Most people start out thinking that this book is a joke. It's hilarious, yes, but what you don't realise for a while is that it's funny because it's TRUE. There is a conspiracy, and it's actively trying to stop you from having a good time, from doing what you want, from HAVING SLACK. This book can move you both to uncontrollable, senseless laughter and to abject terror and sorrow. I have never read a book like this before.
This is the greatest book of the last millenium, 16 May 2001
Weirdfolk arise ! Stand erect for your own abnormailty ! unleash your mutant energies and praise "Bob" !!!!! Are you sick of getting all of the guilt ? but none of the sex ? Explore the secret techniques of the ancients and achieve the mighty GUT BLOWOUT. Learn to live in peace with your sins. Buy this book now - your very soul may depend on it. What other religion can offer "Eternal salvation or triple your money back" ??? Praise "Bob".
The "Third Way" for spiritual anarchists, 22 Jun 1999
This is the most important book ever published. It's religious satire, full of hip inside jokes. HA HA until you realise it's not a joke at all. You are sitting there holding in your hands a challenge to all mankind. Then the bowels loosen and we find out what kind of man or woman you really are: a pink? a normal? The guy with the best taste on the dance floor, who can mention the names of all the coolest pop badboys? Do you think your postmodern irony will protect you from the coming apocalypse? Then prepare to fry!
Dick Masterson > Women , 01 Jun 2008
This superb book is a bible for men. It preaches the truth and is oozing with comedy. A quote to sum this book up :
"If all adults in the world were to die suddenly, within 5 minutes the world would be back to normal. This is because girls haven't learnt of feminism by the age of 10 or 11, they've only learnt how to scream until they get what they want. Oh, wait."
Of course it's slightly radical, but that's what makes it such a great read! Dick Masterson, I salute you!
This book is awesome, 21 May 2008
This book completely blows away the feminist myth that women are equal to men. The book isn't supposed to be taken 100% literally, but he makes lots of great truthful points in it.
Men are better than women - it's fact, don't forget it.
Awesome, hilarious, 13 May 2008
This book is great. After years of equal rights and all that crap finally someone is back talking sense again. Get this book, read it and watch as your balls get larger and larger.
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Product Description
Having trouble coping? Friends deserting you on account of your portfolio of character defects? It's time to act. Chase away those deep-seated psychological flaws with a little book of advice to suit your own unique personality deficiency. And there is no need to restrict yourself to a single volume either. Why get the goldfish bowl feng shui-ed if you are still fighting the urge to take it to work with you and crash it over your boss's head? To enjoy The Little Book of Complete Bollocks you need only two things--a healthy scepticism for all things self-help (although let's face it, you may well have dabbled in the past--it adds to the fun if you've got first-hand experience) and most important of all, an all-consuming desire to rip the living daylights out of the next person who tells you that you that the north-west corner of your living room needs a goldfish (it's a wealth and prosperity thing. Probably.). The Little Book of Complete Bollocks may not make you any friends, but it may just help you get up in the morning, look in the mirror and say "hey, your looking good. Today I'm going to fall in love with myself again and tell the world what a special, giving person I am". --Gala Brand
Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
The ultimate lifesaver, 31 Jan 2003
I try always to have this book at home and selfishly never lend it. The reason - it has been of great help when I was recovering from my last "wet" relapse. It contains short, witty and extremely to the point sayings: short so you can read them before the shakes make you drop the book, humorous for when you're disgusted with yourself, and to the point 'cause this is a serious, deadly illness. I hope never to feel like that last time but to continue using this book to show off at meetings (has anyone said anything about humility?).
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
Brilliant, 12 Apr 2008
I read through the whole of this book in one sitting! I have read as lot of self help books and books on CBT, REBT etc. but this book is a great leveller - bringing you down to earth. It shows exactly how we behave to make ourselves unhappy and as a side effect shows how we can make ourselves feel better. I was in a wonderful state of mind after reading it. It is like suddenly realising the sense of things rather than the mind wirling with all the theories from the self help books. Makes things much clearer.
Hopelessly Revealing..., 22 May 2006
Delicious! Wonderfully smile-inducing, playful and profound. This is Watzlawick at his best, utilising the MRI's whole gambit of tactics and ploys to induce an inverse state in the reader away from miserable thinking (darn it, and rightfully so!).
Watzlawick peppers his witty text with all manner of story and analogy that illuminates and delights. If you like this then also try his 'Ultra-solutions' (not quite as good but fine all the same) or his 'The Invented Reality' that has some very interesting ideas on self-fulfilling prophecy and also the sobering and scary essay (especially if your either a mental health professional or service user) 'On being sane in insane places'.
A most fulsome read that seriously hopelessy fails to not en-wisen and transfix!
Enjoy
KILL UNHAPPINESS WITH LAUGHTER AND SELF CRITICISM, 25 Nov 2002
A wonderful, witty, exposé of our endeavors to live a more miserable life by Watzlawick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University. The treatment of the subject will surely make you laugh at yourself and thus, perhaps, contribute to make you a better person.
W. deals with the fundamental, painful, necessity of the human being to be unhappy (in order to be quiet). And in fact, he contends that the best chapters of universal literature dwell with disaster, tragedy, guilt, madness, etc.
Dante's Inferno-W. writes- is very superior to his Paradise; same case as Milton's Paradise Lost compared with his Paradise Regained; Faust I's greatness is proportionally inverse to the tediousness of Faust II. So the author embarks hilariously in a methodic introduction to the best and more verifiable mechanisms to achieve unhappiness. Samples:
Always be truthful to yourself. A principle, from Polonius in Hamlet,of the outmost necessity for us ( its application is what gets the guy killed by Hamlet like a rat). So then, we must resist any temptation to yield to any other criteria or opinion, apart from ours. Never compromise or accept someone else's advice. The author then addresses the issue of the old saying: "time cures all wounds"..... According to W. four sound mechanisms exist if you want to avoid time's healing effects and transform the past into a present source of suffering. In the exaltation of the past we find those that only remember the good things about their youth and not the years of insecurity and anxiety. In so doing, they have a consistent reserve of sadness about their miserable present...... Also, this fidelity to the past, impairs our ability to enjoy the present and fully dedicate our efforts to the endeavors of the moment. Another mechanism is to consistently dwell with the guilt complex that past errors create, finding excuses or scapegoats (our parents, God, chromosomes, teachers etc.) while doing nothing to avoid committing the same mistakes again.
The author drives his point with practical examples. For instance the story of the hammer. A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. Therefore it occurs to him to go over to the neighbor and ask him to lend him his hammer. But at this point, doubt sets in. What if he doesn't want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday he barely spoke to me. Maybe he was in a hurry. Or, perhaps, he holds something against me. But why? I didn't do anything to him. If he would ask me to lend him something, I would, at once. How can he refuse to lend me his hammer? People like him make other people's life miserable. Worst, he thinks that I need him because he has a hammer. This is got to stop ! And suddenly the guy runs to the neighbor's door, rings, and before letting him say anything, he screams: "You can keep your hammer, you b......"
Watzlawick not only discussess techniques to create false problems, but also the ones that make it actually possible to avoid solving problems and conver them into eternal torments. Here we get the example of the man that claps his hands every ten seconds. Asked why he does that, he answers: "to drive away the elephants..." -"But why, there are no elephants here"- The guy says: "Precisely".
This is a very funny book. It deals, with a fresh and delightful approach, with many of our karmas and mind bothering mosquitoes......
5 crowns? Frightening or brilliant? If I were sure....., 05 Mar 1999
Attracted to Watzlawick's work after recommended to read "Change" I decided to try some more. Began to be perplexed, taking seriously the idea that it could be his aim to be unhappy. "We need unhappiness" he says early on. If I agree it is that we might know happiness, as knowing light because of darkness, etc. Later examples I begin to recognise and wonder. It is perfectly possible to become Relationship Destruction Experts and there may be some of it in all of us. The dark humour (I think) tells us that we can learn to destroy the happiness we could enjoy with others. We don't need to do that. Read it right through at one sitting, as I almost did. Then try reviewing it and see how you rate it. The whole reading changed my view of it as I went; the review made me realise that, and made my mind up. I am sure now. 5 crowns, not 3.
Repent, Quit your job, Slack off!, 20 Jan 2006
Most people start out thinking that this book is a joke. It's hilarious, yes, but what you don't realise for a while is that it's funny because it's TRUE. There is a conspiracy, and it's actively trying to stop you from having a good time, from doing what you want, from HAVING SLACK. This book can move you both to uncontrollable, senseless laughter and to abject terror and sorrow. I have never read a book like this before.
This is the greatest book of the last millenium, 16 May 2001
Weirdfolk arise ! Stand erect for your own abnormailty ! unleash your mutant energies and praise "Bob" !!!!! Are you sick of getting all of the guilt ? but none of the sex ? Explore the secret techniques of the ancients and achieve the mighty GUT BLOWOUT. Learn to live in peace with your sins. Buy this book now - your very soul may depend on it. What other religion can offer "Eternal salvation or triple your money back" ??? Praise "Bob".
The "Third Way" for spiritual anarchists, 22 Jun 1999
This is the most important book ever published. It's religious satire, full of hip inside jokes. HA HA until you realise it's not a joke at all. You are sitting there holding in your hands a challenge to all mankind. Then the bowels loosen and we find out what kind of man or woman you really are: a pink? a normal? The guy with the best taste on the dance floor, who can mention the names of all the coolest pop badboys? Do you think your postmodern irony will protect you from the coming apocalypse? Then prepare to fry!
Dick Masterson > Women , 01 Jun 2008
This superb book is a bible for men. It preaches the truth and is oozing with comedy. A quote to sum this book up :
"If all adults in the world were to die suddenly, within 5 minutes the world would be back to normal. This is because girls haven't learnt of feminism by the age of 10 or 11, they've only learnt how to scream until they get what they want. Oh, wait."
Of course it's slightly radical, but that's what makes it such a great read! Dick Masterson, I salute you!
This book is awesome, 21 May 2008
This book completely blows away the feminist myth that women are equal to men. The book isn't supposed to be taken 100% literally, but he makes lots of great truthful points in it.
Men are better than women - it's fact, don't forget it.
Awesome, hilarious, 13 May 2008
This book is great. After years of equal rights and all that crap finally someone is back talking sense again. Get this book, read it and watch as your balls get larger and larger.
An antidote to the usual bollocks, 20 Apr 2004
If, like me, you're a confirmed cynic when it comes to all the airy-fairy,crystal healing nonsense and twee greeting-card platitudes, this is theperfect antidote. It turns many of the thought tricks employed in theseareas back on themselves, revealing their absurd and vapid nature. Mostlyhighly amusing, you're bound to find many of these worthy of reading outto your friends. Superb.
One of the funniest books i've read in ages!, 13 Dec 2003
Absolutely excellent! Alistair Beaton puts my aprehension of such bollocky therapyness into extremely witty words. Great (and cheap too!)
Pokes fun, but not enough to make you laugh, 17 Feb 2002
It's mildly amusing to see how the book turns a lot of the therapy-like affirmations and assertions into a dubious artform - but it doesn't go very far towards making them amusing. I found it amusing for the first five minutes and then found it only worthy of being tossed into the jumble sale box. A little disappointed, to say the least ..!
Very funny and will bring a smile to your face, 22 Sep 2001
The book was passed around the office and we still can't find it, could we have a bigger one printed.....hilarious, and needed, so that we don't take ourselves seriously at times of stress. Good excuse to laugh at ourselves.
bollocks this aint!, 14 Apr 2001
This is the funniest book I've read in a long time. Beware all you feng shui addicts and all those people who are so deeply searching for their inner self. This book is best read out loud and will increase your humour rating amongst your workmates. Buy it immediately!
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Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
The ultimate lifesaver, 31 Jan 2003
I try always to have this book at home and selfishly never lend it. The reason - it has been of great help when I was recovering from my last "wet" relapse. It contains short, witty and extremely to the point sayings: short so you can read them before the shakes make you drop the book, humorous for when you're disgusted with yourself, and to the point 'cause this is a serious, deadly illness. I hope never to feel like that last time but to continue using this book to show off at meetings (has anyone said anything about humility?).
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, accessible collection. Dr. Ron B has taken the marvelous oral tradition of the 12-step programs and articulated them in an elegantly simple series of delightful morsels. I am buying this book for every recovering person I know.
Brilliant, 12 Apr 2008
I read through the whole of this book in one sitting! I have read as lot of self help books and books on CBT, REBT etc. but this book is a great leveller - bringing you down to earth. It shows exactly how we behave to make ourselves unhappy and as a side effect shows how we can make ourselves feel better. I was in a wonderful state of mind after reading it. It is like suddenly realising the sense of things rather than the mind wirling with all the theories from the self help books. Makes things much clearer.
Hopelessly Revealing..., 22 May 2006
Delicious! Wonderfully smile-inducing, playful and profound. This is Watzlawick at his best, utilising the MRI's whole gambit of tactics and ploys to induce an inverse state in the reader away from miserable thinking (darn it, and rightfully so!).
Watzlawick peppers his witty text with all manner of story and analogy that illuminates and delights. If you like this then also try his 'Ultra-solutions' (not quite as good but fine all the same) or his 'The Invented Reality' that has some very interesting ideas on self-fulfilling prophecy and also the sobering and scary essay (especially if your either a mental health professional or service user) 'On being sane in insane places'.
A most fulsome read that seriously hopelessy fails to not en-wisen and transfix!
Enjoy
KILL UNHAPPINESS WITH LAUGHTER AND SELF CRITICISM, 25 Nov 2002
A wonderful, witty, exposé of our endeavors to live a more miserable life by Watzlawick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University. The treatment of the subject will surely make you laugh at yourself and thus, perhaps, contribute to make you a better person.
W. deals with the fundamental, painful, necessity of the human being to be unhappy (in order to be quiet). And in fact, he contends that the best chapters of universal literature dwell with disaster, tragedy, guilt, madness, etc.
Dante's Inferno-W. writes- is very superior to his Paradise; same case as Milton's Paradise Lost compared with his Paradise Regained; Faust I's greatness is proportionally inverse to the tediousness of Faust II. So the author embarks hilariously in a methodic introduction to the best and more verifiable mechanisms to achieve unhappiness. Samples:
Always be truthful to yourself. A principle, from Polonius in Hamlet,of the outmost necessity for us ( its application is what gets the guy killed by Hamlet like a rat). So then, we must resist any temptation to yield to any other criteria or opinion, apart from ours. Never compromise or accept someone else's advice. The author then addresses the issue of the old saying: "time cures all wounds"..... According to W. four sound mechanisms exist if you want to avoid time's healing effects and transform the past into a present source of suffering. In the exaltation of the past we find those that only remember the good things about their youth and not the years of insecurity and anxiety. In so doing, they have a consistent reserve of sadness about their miserable present...... Also, this fidelity to the past, impairs our ability to enjoy the present and fully dedicate our efforts to the endeavors of the moment. Another mechanism is to consistently dwell with the guilt complex that past errors create, finding excuses or scapegoats (our parents, God, chromosomes, teachers etc.) while doing nothing to avoid committing the same mistakes again.
The author drives his point with practical examples. For instance the story of the hammer. A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. Therefore it occurs to him to go over to the neighbor and ask him to lend him his hammer. But at this point, doubt sets in. What if he doesn't want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday he barely spoke to me. Maybe he was in a hurry. Or, perhaps, he holds something against me. But why? I didn't do anything to him. If he would ask me to lend him something, I would, at once. How can he refuse to lend me his hammer? People like him make other people's life miserable. Worst, he thinks that I need him because he has a hammer. This is got to stop ! And suddenly the guy runs to the neighbor's door, rings, and before letting him say anything, he screams: "You can keep your hammer, you b......"
Watzlawick not only discussess techniques to create false problems, but also the ones that make it actually possible to avoid solving problems and conver them into eternal torments. Here we get the example of the man that claps his hands every ten seconds. Asked why he does that, he answers: "to drive away the elephants..." -"But why, there are no elephants here"- The guy says: "Precisely".
This is a very funny book. It deals, with a fresh and delightful approach, with many of our karmas and mind bothering mosquitoes......
5 crowns? Frightening or brilliant? If I were sure....., 05 Mar 1999
Attracted to Watzlawick's work after recommended to read "Change" I decided to try some more. Began to be perplexed, taking seriously the idea that it could be his aim to be unhappy. "We need unhappiness" he says early on. If I agree it is that we might know happiness, as knowing light because of darkness, etc. Later examples I begin to recognise and wonder. It is perfectly possible to become Relationship Destruction Experts and there may be some of it in all of us. The dark humour (I think) tells us that we can learn to destroy the happiness we could enjoy with others. We don't need to do that. Read it right through at one sitting, as I almost did. Then try reviewing it and see how you rate it. The whole reading changed my view of it as I went; the review made me realise that, and made my mind up. I am sure now. 5 crowns, not 3.
Repent, Quit your job, Slack off!, 20 Jan 2006
Most people start out thinking that this book is a joke. It's hilarious, yes, but what you don't realise for a while is that it's funny because it's TRUE. There is a conspiracy, and it's actively trying to stop you from having a good time, from doing what you want, from HAVING SLACK. This book can move you both to uncontrollable, senseless laughter and to abject terror and sorrow. I have never read a book like this before.
This is the greatest book of the last millenium, 16 May 2001
Weirdfolk arise ! Stand erect for your own abnormailty ! unleash your mutant energies and praise "Bob" !!!!! Are you sick of getting all of the guilt ? but none of the sex ? Explore the secret techniques of the ancients and achieve the mighty GUT BLOWOUT. Learn to live in peace with your sins. Buy this book now - your very soul may depend on it. What other religion can offer "Eternal salvation or triple your money back" ??? Praise "Bob".
The "Third Way" for spiritual anarchists, 22 Jun 1999
This is the most important book ever published. It's religious satire, full of hip inside jokes. HA HA until you realise it's not a joke at all. You are sitting there holding in your hands a challenge to all mankind. Then the bowels loosen and we find out what kind of man or woman you really are: a pink? a normal? The guy with the best taste on the dance floor, who can mention the names of all the coolest pop badboys? Do you think your postmodern irony will protect you from the coming apocalypse? Then prepare to fry!
Dick Masterson > Women , 01 Jun 2008
This superb book is a bible for men. It preaches the truth and is oozing with comedy. A quote to sum this book up :
"If all adults in the world were to die suddenly, within 5 minutes the world would be back to normal. This is because girls haven't learnt of feminism by the age of 10 or 11, they've only learnt how to scream until they get what they want. Oh, wait."
Of course it's slightly radical, but that's what makes it such a great read! Dick Masterson, I salute you!
This book is awesome, 21 May 2008
This book completely blows away the feminist myth that women are equal to men. The book isn't supposed to be taken 100% literally, but he makes lots of great truthful points in it.
Men are better than women - it's fact, don't forget it.
Awesome, hilarious, 13 May 2008
This book is great. After years of equal rights and all that crap finally someone is back talking sense again. Get this book, read it and watch as your balls get larger and larger.
An antidote to the usual bollocks, 20 Apr 2004
If, like me, you're a confirmed cynic when it comes to all the airy-fairy,crystal healing nonsense and twee greeting-card platitudes, this is theperfect antidote. It turns many of the thought tricks employed in theseareas back on themselves, revealing their absurd and vapid nature. Mostlyhighly amusing, you're bound to find many of these worthy of reading outto your friends. Superb.
One of the funniest books i've read in ages!, 13 Dec 2003
Absolutely excellent! Alistair Beaton puts my aprehension of such bollocky therapyness into extremely witty words. Great (and cheap too!)
Pokes fun, but not enough to make you laugh, 17 Feb 2002
It's mildly amusing to see how the book turns a lot of the therapy-like affirmations and assertions into a dubious artform - but it doesn't go very far towards making them amusing. I found it amusing for the first five minutes and then found it only worthy of being tossed into the jumble sale box. A little disappointed, to say the least ..!
Very funny and will bring a smile to your face, 22 Sep 2001
The book was passed around the office and we still can't find it, could we have a bigger one printed.....hilarious, and needed, so that we don't take ourselves seriously at times of stress. Good excuse to laugh at ourselves.
bollocks this aint!, 14 Apr 2001
This is the funniest book I've read in a long time. Beware all you feng shui addicts and all those people who are so deeply searching for their inner self. This book is best read out loud and will increase your humour rating amongst your workmates. Buy it immediately!
Fun, light-hearted, and informative, 04 Jul 2008
I bought this lively, charming book as a gift for a close friend who has struggled with a variety of mental health difficulties for years. She has been misdiagnosed twice, with unfortunate and frightening consequences, and I thought that this good-humoured spoof on the tendency to label everything that moves would cheer her up. She was amused to discover that she shares a diagnosis with some beloved childhood characters.
Thanks to its friendly, accessible, and imaginative style, 'Tigger on the Couch' will also do a great deal to remove some of the stigma that is attached to various mental health conditions - which, according to James, was the reason why she wrote the book. She is related to somebody who has experienced mental health problems and wanted to change public perceptions of such difficulties. This is just the book to do it.
No, it's not a textbook. It's not a diagnostic manual. It's not intended to be. If you are a qualified psychologist or some other mental health professional, buy something that is explicitly targeted at you - but bear in mind that you don't have to have be a doctor or have a degree to write about mental health problems. They can affect anyone, either directly or indirectly - just as they affected Laura James. The perspective of a clinician may be valuable, but that doesn't mean that the perspective of an interested and compassionate layperson is useless.
Nonsense written by someone with no relevant qualifications, 20 Apr 2008
It's a shame that Ms James felt she should to author a book that she is unqualified to write. "Author, Journalist and Magazine editor" (from the book itself) Laura James should stick to subjects she knows something about, and leave psychology and psychiatry to those of us who are actually qualified to write about it.
Her ludicrous misunderstanding of even the most basic psychiatric concepts would be laughable if they weren't so potentially damaging. Her notions of the characters here being 'ill' are nonsense, and show that she does not understand that psychopathology is culturally situated. Winnie the Pooh lives well in his space and culture, with a house, good friends, enough food etc. He is happy and has a fulfilling life. Drug and behavior therapy (as she suggests) would not be indicated, and the very notion that they would is repugnant.
I think Ms James has misunderstood the purpose of psychology and psychiatry. It is not to indoctrinate, and failing that to drug, everyone into some bland conformity, but rather to relieve distress. Her 'case studies' demonstrate her simple misunderstanding of this basic point.
I was further distressed to note that she has also failed to research her source material sufficiently. Winnie the Pooh's songs do not "Cause distress to his friends and neighbors" (p.49) rather they are often pleased by them and request them to mark special occasions. The whole book is replete with these kinds of errors of fact, which makes her laughable interpretations all the more ludicrous.
What concerns me most is that some people will understandably buy this book in the belief that the contents are an accessible introduction to a series of facts. They are not. Consequently, I shall not be recommending it in my own practice. I urge you instead to buy one of the many quality introductory works available that are written by people who have some basic knowledge of (and qualification in) the subject.
Very fun!, 15 Oct 2007
Having heard Chris Evans say on his show that he's tkaing this book on his honeymoon, I decided to check it out. I found the individual case studies really funny, it made me laugh out lould. On a more serious note the book also makes the subject of mental illness a lot more accessible, without downplaying it.
pull up a chair and tell me why you bounce so much?, 11 Oct 2007
what a superb idea and a great way to deal with some important issues in an interesting and approachable way. It probably isnt going to become the standard text book for the British Psychological Society but somehow I dont think that was the intention.
Thoroughly enjoyable, 11 Oct 2007
A very enjoyable, insightful and interesting read. I discovered a lot about psychological disorders and it was really thought-provoking. Definitely a book I would recommend.
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Customer Reviews
He has done it again!, 05 Oct 2008
Tony Hawks has once again reeled us in with his humour and charming wit. His recent book "The Fridge-Hiker's Guide to Life: How to stay cool when you're feeling the heat" is an inspirational novel with a genuinely interesting outlook on life.
Tony talks of the lessons he learned from his first book when he travelled round Ireland with a small refrigerator (Round Ireland with a Fridge) and uses examples to support and explain his ideas. As a result the readers get to see a slightly different side to Tony - more vulnerable, more human.
As with his other books, it is a very funny read but what makes this one slightly different from his others is that it has some really good advice about how we can makes things easier for ourselves in a world where everything always seems so difficult.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read his first book as he explains the important parts again. And if you have already read the original one but not for a long time, it is definitely worth reading even if just to re-live his mad journey!
Everyone Needs To Read This Book, 08 Nov 2001
I laughed so hard when I read this book. He must live in Houston! The sections in regards to driving were perfect. I even laughed when I saw myself in the pages. Thanks for the smile. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!, 18 Dec 2000
I have only a few things to say about this book, i love it and found it really funny, not everyone i know however gets the humour in it, but personally it made me smile :D Great sarcastic humour. Always a stress buster., 15 Nov 2000
Work is stressful enough. I keep this little book out on my desk as a reminder to not take things too seriously. If for some reason I don't chuckle at the first random suggestion I pick, I always laugh at the second. A great gift for any busy person. The funniest 'Little Book' ever., 26 Oct 2000
This parody of the dreaded 'Little Book Of Calm' had me laughing out loud from start to finish. I've bought copies of it for loads of friends and I've yet to come across anyone who hasn't found it hilarious. If you're looking for something to cheer yourself up, or for a gift that's bound to be appreciated, then look no further. And all for less than two quid! Aaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!, 25 Apr 2000
Look, I'm not normally one to get wound up but jeez. This book is something else. It's a wok. No, seriously. When I read this book I stayed glued to my seat. Otherwise I'd have gone off and done something more meaningful. This stress-inducing book is enough to make a sane man naked. Never mind all those other self-help books. This is the one to get. I'm contemplating suing. I was quite normal before I got involved in this tawdry tome. God Bless Mr. Candappa for enlightening me. I feel a new man. No, don't go there. Is that the time already, mother? Where's me washboard? I thank you. Nice to see you....Good game, good game. Lovely. Forfar 4 East Fife 5
The ultimate lifesaver, 31 Jan 2003
I try always to have this book at home and selfishly never lend it. The reason - it has been of great help when I was recovering from my last "wet" relapse. It contains short, witty and extremely to the point sayings: short so you can read them before the shakes make you drop the book, humorous for when you're disgusted with yourself, and to the point 'cause this is a serious, deadly illness. I hope never to feel like that last time but to continue using this book to show off at meetings (has anyone said anything about humility?).
The best gift imaginable for a recovering addict/alcoholic!, 20 Nov 1998
What a refreshing little jewel this book is! All the wisdom, tragedy, and humor a regular 12-stepper witnesses in meetings is captured in this succinct, acces | | |