Selfish Whining Monkeys

With a sharp eye for the magnificently absurd, Rod Liddle sets light to modern-day Britain.

‘One of Britain’s funniest, most daring columnists. If he weren’t so offensive you’d almost call him a national treasure’ Mail on Sunday

‘I, and my generation, seem feckless and irresponsible, endlessly selfish, whining, avaricious, self-deluding, self-obsessed, spoiled and corrupt and ill.’

What is it that has transformed the British who in living memory were admired for their unassuming, stiff-upper-lipped capacity for `muddling through' into the feckless,
obese, self-deluding, avaricious and self-obsessed whingers we have become? Savagely funny and relentlessly contrary, yet with a poignant sense of all that we have lost, Rod Liddle mercilessly exposes the absurdity, cant and humbuggery of the way we live now.

Reviews

‘Liddle lured me in with his riotously entertaining take on everything from attitudes towards obesity to what he calls our "respec" culture’ Independent

‘A magnificent torrent of analysis and abuse – 90 per cent brilliant, 10 per cent bonkers … A flaming, bloodthirsty romp, scything through the clichés and lazy thinking of an effete liberal establishment’ Times Higher Education Supplement

‘Filled with his trademark dry and self-hating wit, I would recommend even Rod-sceptics read his book’ New Statesman

About the author

Rod Liddle writes the popular 'Liddle Britain' column in The Spectator. Liddle was the Editor of the BBC Radio 4's Today programme from 1998 to 2002. In addition to being the Associate Editor of The Spectator, Liddle writes regularly for The Sunday Times and Country Life as well as presenting current affairs documentaries on television. He was formerly a speechwriter for the Labour Party.