The Smoking Diaries Volume 2: The Year Of The Jouncer - Softcover

Gray, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847080553 ISBN 13: 9781847080554

Publisher: Granta Books, 2008

Synopsis

As a baby, Simon Gray discovered that he could move his pram while still nestling inside it. 'It was a complete mystery to the adult intelligences, how had he done it, if it was he who had done it, but if not he, who then and why? So the next afternoon they (Mummy and Nanny) planted the pram in the usual spot, and stood over it, watching - the baby lay there smiling or snivelling up at them, until it struck them that they should try observing the baby when unobserved by the baby, and they withdrew behind bushes and trees etc.; and thus witnessed the swaying of the pram, then the juddering of the pram, then its slow, unsteady progress along the path, the movement accompanied by a low humming and keening sound from within that reminded them more of a dog than a human ... "jouncing" was the word they used for it. I was a jouncer therefore.' In the second book of his chronicles of triumph and disaster which started with The Smoking Diaries, Gray intertwined scenes from his adult and his childish self to produce a brilliant and moving counterpoint of life's unsteady progress.

About this title

Review:

'Mordantly funny and utterly involving account...full of wry humour, his diaries are addictive, comforting reading' -- Sunday Times - Paperback of the Week

'Splendidly universal...with a continuous tone of disgruntled drollery that is hugely and consistently entertaining' -- Guardian - Nicholas Lezard's Paperback Choice,

'This self- effacing ramble secures Grey’s position as one of the great comic writers in English today.’ -- The Irish Times

Gray’s ranting, moaning and complaining is a highly polished comic performance -- Daily Express

Swarming with black comedy and frank opinions, this is a tribute to the forces that shape us -- The Good Book Guide

‘A ragbag of stories and reminiscences, it must be one of the funniest books I’ve ever read’ -- Philip Hensher, Spectator Books of the Year

‘A tender tirade, hilarious, touching and wonderfully written’ -- Barry Humphries, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year

‘The funniest book I read this year... cunningly presented as meandering late-night jottings, but in fact scrupulously written’ -- Julian Barnes, Guardian Books of the Year

‘The latest volume of diaries from the playwright Simon Gray confirms his reputation as the Eeyore of modern English letters' -- The Mail on Sunday

From the Publisher:

When he turned sixty-five, the playwright Simon Gray began to keep a diary: not a careful honing of the day's events with a view to posterity but an account of his thoughts as he had them, honestly, turbulently, digressively expressed. The three volumes of "The Smoking Diaries" are the result, in which one of Britain's most amusing and original writers reflects on a life filled with cigarettes, alcohol, several triumphs and many more disasters, shame,friendship and love. Few diarists have been as frank about themselves, and even fewer as entertaining.This beautiful boxed set contains the three volumes in paperback of "The Smoking Diaries", "The Smoking Diaries: The Year of the Jouncer", and "The Smoking Diaries: The Last Cigarette", just published in hardback in April 2008.With their combination of comedy and serious reflection, of sharp observation and painful self-disclosure, Simon Gray's diaries have reinvented the memoir form and are destined to become classics of autobiography. The beauty of them lies in Gray's struggle to put a finger on some kind of personal truth. "The Smoking Diaries" give a brilliant and moving account of life's unsteady progress - with unfailing wit and humour, they take us to the very heart of a man.

About this edition

• Publisher: Granta Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1847080553
• ISBN 13: 9781847080554
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 282