The Zen of Being Grumpy

Are you proud to be politically incorrect, loathing alternate therapies and green activists, then this irreverent send-up of our modern culture's fashionable obsessions is for you. Mark Lawson, whose heroes are Darth Vader and Ebenezer Scrooge, satirises those things especially dear to the mass media and chattering classes, like climate change alarmism and the worship of youth. Young people, he says, are not special, being the same as older people, but with less experience. "They are just as clueless as their parents." The Zen of Being Grumpy will resonate with those of "advanced middle age" and beyond, "who have ceased to care", yearn to be "liberated from the perpetual pleas of do-gooders and activists" and keep themselves busy "ignoring all conscious-raising activities". The crazes for text messaging, twittering and the social media in general, loud mobile phone users, and even overseas tourism, are among Lawson's many inviting targets. This book is timely, empowering and...