Entertaining and enlightening, Mark Kermode's film knowledge is clearly limitless but he isn't a bore, at least not often. The number of references and mini-reviews available within these 300 odd pages is impressive and usually irrelevant. However far from distracting, this is very much Kermode's style as the book is essentially his voice transcribed and made slightly more comprehensible.
A self-admitted fictional autobiography, there is no guarantee the anecdotes Kermode tells are 100% accurate. In a strikingly post-modern sequence, he takes a break from writing the book to watch a film to check he remembered a scene correctly! And this is on the low-key end of absurdity. Some of the stories sound far-fetched but there is something strikingly honest about his story telling. Say what you like about his opinions and reviews, he knows how to keep an audience entertained.
In the least back-handed way possible, the book is very easy to read. As I say he manages to capture his own voice perfectly (not as easy as you may think) and his casual tone makes it feel you personally are being told this extraordinary story by an old friend. Literary it ain't, incisive criticism isn't here either despite his previous reputation and his latest book ('The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex') seems to be in that vein also. This is just a fine diversion that left me laughing to myself for a few hours and left me thoroughly entertained, with a smidgen more insight into the peculiar world of Mark Kermode.
Still prefer the original cover though:
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