reviewing for the i newspaper: Tackle! by Jilly Cooper
published 2023
The i newspaper asked me to review this book: I have a lot of admiration for Jilly Cooper, and wrote
what I thought was a funny teasing review. I loved that she was dealing with
football – not a very Jilly subject – and I amused myself with thinking about
how she would have done her research.
After I’d written my piece but before I filed it, I looked
to see some of the other coverage of this book. In particular, there was an interview
with her in the Observer last weekend – and I realized she had pre-empted a
lot of what I’d said about her. I had
guessed correctly, but I couldn’t improve on her own description of chatting up
managers in flirty conversations to get the facts, luxury lunches - and then
there were her comments on old age and sex. I had to think of different things
to say…
My own theory is that she is beyond criticism – I think she
is wrong about any number of subjects, such as feminists, the Guardian, #MeToo,
but she brings such joy to the world that she gets away with it. She is hard to
beat for sheer readability and enjoyment.
And I have a useful tip: any characters that are nice to
animals and/or quote poetry are the good guys.
And a list of words she over-uses in her books, including this new one: ravishing, glorious, pretty, glamorous, chums, giggle.
And she is very good at large complex social events
furthering several different plotlines.
And, she has a character in this book who is an inventor:
He had invented many hugely
successful products: No-Bese, which dramatically helped people to lose weight;
Spot Kick, which got rid of acne; SpecFind, in which you pressed a button and
your glasses told you where they were; Deertract, which kept deer off one’s
flower beds; and Poover, in which you placed a nozzle to the anus
and – invaluable to geriatrics and young children – it
gently sucked out the crap. This had considerably reduced the three billion
disposable nappies thrown into the environment every year. His latest invention
was Glittoris, a sweet-tasting silver liquid which a girl painted over her
clitoris to enable her suitor to locate it.
She is herself: she doesn’t resemble any other writer, and
she has brought such pleasure to so many people.
You can read my review in the i paper here:
Lovely review, Moira! There are authors like that, aren't there, who can get away with any number of things because their work is so much fun to read. It's a bit like someone who has a natural gift for wit. Somehow, their comments and jokes are always funny, even if they don't do things in a conventionally funny way. I don't know that I would be brave enough to write about a sport I don't know much about, like rugby or football. All said, this sounds like a fun read!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right Margot, that is what she is like. I wonder does she have much of an audience in the USA? She seems a very British phenomenon.
DeleteShe certainly has a natural gift! I read and reread her early journalism. Snapshot of the 60s and 70s ranging from debs to Margaret Thatcher (whose patent leather shoes are slightly dusty from being in the wardrobe).
DeleteOh me too, I read all the collections, they very much influenced me, giving me a view of a certain kind of world and life.
DeleteI loved her book Class, which opened the way to the whole sloane ranger thing.
Great article! I don't recall how or why I started reading Cooper but the last one I read was in 2002 so I clearly hadn't thought about her for a long time. As I recall, a few were published in the US by Random House in the 80s but I read them them all later than that (some standalones with women's names were lame but I certainly enjoyed the Rutshire books). Some of the more manic events/meets/hunts are so chaotic it's hard to keep track of what is happening but that is part of the charm, as I recall. When it seemed as if there weren't going to be any more, I started reading an imitator called Fiona Walker (I think the first one must have been good but the rest were dreadful - women with no self confidence agonizing for hundreds of pages, desperate for crumbs of affection, much slapstick humor). I will keep my eyes open for this one.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder how they play out in other parts of the world - there is something very British about them. I once used the word 'bonkbuster' on the blog and a lovely Australian blogfriend had to ask what it meant, with a wonderful ensuing discussion! I've not heard of Fiona Walker. Hope you may enjoy more Jilly Cooper - in the UK every charity bookshop has copies of her books going cheap!
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