Twenty confusing years in the life of a Labour supporter

Things Can Only Get Worse?

The follow-up to his classic memoir, Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter - John O'Farrell takes us on a sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-breaking rollercoaster ride from the highs of that Labour victory in ‘97 to the lows of Brexit.

Hilarious, insightful and has that rare quality of making politics fun. A brilliant book everyone should read, whoever you vote for.

Reading this book is like reliving the last twenty years as a Labour supporter. John O’Farrell has, in his own unique and hilarious way, captured the highs and lows, pride and embarrassment, joy and frustration of being Labour.

O’Farrell hasn’t lost his touch. There are laughs as well as large doses of common sense.

John O'Farrell couldn't be unfunny if he tried but this book is even better than his famous take on Labour's 18 years in opposition. Hilarious and insightful in equal measure this is vintage stuff from Maidenhead's finest political brain.

A glimpse at the quirky, inner workings of the British political system written by someone who seems too funny, too kind and too bloody sensible to ever seriously consider a career in politics.

Hugely enjoyable, timely and funny. Given that it's about politics, this is an impressively sane book. Hooray for John O' Farrell.

John O'Farrell's first book Things Can Only Get Better about his years spent helping the Labour Party lose elections at every level was a number one best-seller. Two decades later he published the sequel Things Can Only Get Worse. In between his two comic memoirs, he published five novels, including The Best A Man Can Get, May Contain Nuts and The Man Who Forgot His Wife; two funny history books (An Utterly Impartial History of Britain and its sequel) plus three collections of his satirical columns from The Guardian. 
 
His books have been translated into over thirty languages and adapted for TV and radio. Formerly a comedy scriptwriter for shows such as Spitting Image and Have I Got News For You, he more recently co-wrote the movie Chicken Run 2, the Broadway musicals Something Rotten! and Mrs Doubtfire and the forthcoming Just For One Day - The Story of Live Aid, which opens at the Old Vic in 2024.

'…as the Labour candidate I prepared for every possible question on the local radio Election Phone-In. What I had not prepared for was my mum ringing up to say that she agreed with John O’Farrell. On EVERYTHING.' 
 
Where Did We Go Right? is the personal story of one political activist helping Labour progress from its 1997 landslide to the unassailable position it enjoys today. 
Along the way, he stood for Parliament against Theresa May but failed to step into her shoes; he was dropped from Tony and Cherie’s Christmas card list after he revealed he always sent their card on to a friend from the SWP; and he campaigned for a new non-selective inner-city state school, then realised this meant he had to send his kids to a non-selective inner-city state school. 
 
The long-awaited sequel to the best-selling Things Can Only Get Better is for everyone who could use a good laugh after Brexit, Boris and Trump. A roller-coaster ride through the last two decades via the very best political jokes (excluding the ones that keep getting elected).

Things Can Only Get Better

The hilarious account of eighteen miserable years in the life of a Labour supporter.

'The funniest book I have read for two and a half years'

'The whingeing memoirs of a snivelling leftie. The man should be shot'

'Excellent...Whatever your politics Things Can Only Get Better will make you laugh out loud'

'Very funny and much better than anything he ever wrote for me'

John O'Farrell is the author of seven books. His first book, Things Can Only Get Better, was a number one bestseller and was dramatized for BBC Radio 4. The Best a Man Can Get was the bestselling debut novel of 2002. As well as being a bestselling author, John O'Farrell is a regular contributor to television and radio. For the past five years he has written a weekly humorous column for the Guardian, three collections of which have been published as Global Village Idiot, I Blame the Scapegoats and I Have a Bream.

Like bubonic plague and stone cladding, no-one took Margaret Thatcher seriously until it was too late. Her first act as leader was to appear before the cameras and do a V for Victory sign the wrong way round. She was smiling and telling the British people to f*** off at the same time. It was something we would have to get used to.' 
 
Things Can Only Get Better is the personal account of a Labour supporter who survived eighteen miserable years of Conservative government. It is the heartbreaking and hilarious confessions of someone who has been actively involved in helping the Labour party lose elections at every level: school candidate: door-to-door canvasser: working for a Labour MP in the House of Commons; standing as a council candidate; and eventually writing jokes for a shadow cabinet minister. 
 
Along the way he slowly came to realise that Michael Foot would never be Prime Minister, that vegetable quiche was not as tasty as chicken tikki masala and that the nuclear arms race was never going to be stopped by face painting alone.

There's Only Two David Beckhams

Hilariously unpredictable, this is the raucous new novel from the bestselling author of The Best A Man Can Get

The funniest football fiction since FIFA's annual accounts

A wonderful love letter to football. So romantic and ridiculous, it could only have been written by a Fulham fan

O'Farrell once again proves his immense comedic abilities with a book that is gag-crammed, ridiculous and fantastical.

John O’Farrell has published four best-selling novels, two comic history books, a political memoir and three collections of his popular Guardian column. His books have been translated into around 25 languages and adapted for film, TV and radio. In a previous life he wrote for TV shows such as Spitting Image and Have I Got News For You. He recently co-wrote the Broadway musical ‘Something Rotten!, and (with Nick Park) the next film from Aardman Animations. 
A long-standing season ticket holder at Fulham FC, he followed them from the bottom division to the Europa League final and fully intends to follow them all the way back down again.

Re-live the glory and the heartache of England's greatest ever game - and THAT World Cup Final back in 2022. 
 
Well now it’s 2022 and the discussion is finally over, England have eleven players as good as any of them. The unbeatable national team have reached the final of the Qatar World Cup. But one journalist is convinced there is a scandalous secret behind England’s incredible form. His lifetime’s dream is to see the Three Lions win the World Cup. But if he pursues and exposes the shocking truth, his beloved England could be sent home in disgrace. 
 
Suddenly this is much more than England vs Germany; it’s Love vs Duty, it’s Truth vs Happiness. 
The pressure of the penalty shoot-out is nothing compared to this. 
 
There’s Only Two David Beckhams is John O’Farrell’s love-letter to football; part-detective story, part-sports memoir, part-satire on the whole corrupt FIFA circus; it just made the final for the funniest football fiction ever written...

The Man Who Forgot His Wife

Funny, moving, poignant - the terrific new novel from the bestselling author of An Utterly Impartial History of Britain

It's a rare treat to come across a novel that is both comic and thoughtfully acute about love, and life, and stuff... Hilarious and heart-tugging, this is indeed a memorable comedy

John O'Farrell has tapped the rich seam of domestic life in this fun new novel

Exudes prime-time, feel-good gold... What's not to like?

A brilliantly comic tale with some sharp observations on modern marriage from one of the funniest writers around

The jokes keep coming in this novel about an amnesiac family man, but the punchlines involve some serious philosophical thought

John O'Farrell is the author of four novels: The Man Who Forgot His Wife, May Contain Nuts, This Is Your Life and The Best a Man Can Get. His novels have been translated into over twenty languages and have been adapted for radio and television. He has also written two best-selling history books: An Utterly Impartial History of Britain and An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain, as well as a political memoir, Things Can Only Get Better and three collections of his column inThe Guardian. A former comedy scriptwriter for such productions asSpitting Image, Room 101, Murder Most Horridand Chicken Run, he is founder of the satirical website NewsBiscuitand can occasionally be spotted on such TV programmes asGrumpy Old Men,Question Time and Have I Got News for You.

Lots of husbands forget things: they forget that their wife had an important meeting that morning; they forget to pick up the dry cleaning; some of them even forget their wedding anniversary. 
 
But Vaughan has forgotten he even has a wife. Her name, her face, their history together, everything she has ever told him, everything he has said to her - it has all gone, mysteriously wiped in one catastrophic moment of memory loss. And now he has rediscovered her - only to find out that they are getting divorced. 
 
The Man Who Forgot His Wife is the funny, moving and poignant story of a man who has done just that. And who will try anything to turn back the clock and have one last chance to reclaim his life.

I Blame The Scapegoats

Guardian Columns: The Final Sequel (Part One)

Acclaim for THIS IS YOUR LIFE: 
'Excellently done...O'Farrell gives an extra squirm to the traditional English comedy of embarrassment'

'A splendid satire on our celebrity-hungry age'

A doctor in America has just invented a 'sperm sorting machine'. At least that's what he claimed when his receptionist burst into the office to find him doing something peculiar with the Hoover attachment. Apparently the system used for separating the male and female sperm is remarkably simple. A sample is placed in the petri dish with a microscopic pile of household items on a tiny staircase. All the sperm that go straight past without picking anything up are obviously boys. 
 
John O'Farrell's first collection of columns GLOBAL VILLAGE IDIOT was a huge success prompting fulsome praise from such major public figures as the Queen Mother, Roy Jenkins and Cardinal Hume. Sadly, since their deaths, their glowing endorsements cannot be officially verified. So here instead is another collection of funny, satirical essays on a hundred and one 21st century subjects. Read how the government plans to introduce 'Santa loans' that will leave school children £10,000 in debt for all the presents that used to be free from Father Christmas. Learn how the EU is being expanded to include Narnia. And did you know that American war planes now have a little sticker on the back saying 'How's my bombing?' with an 0800 number to call if they blow up any Muslim country in a discourteous of aggressive manner . . .

or Sixty Years of Making the Same Stupid Mistakes as Always

An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain

John O'Farrell is back with his utterly impartial, cantankerous journey through history, bringing us right up to the present day

John O'Farrell studied history at Desborough Comprehensive, where he got a B in his O level. He later continued his research by watching lots of programmes about the Nazis on the UK History Channel. Apart from that he has published three novels, a memoir and three collections of his popular Guardian column. A former comedy scriptwriter for such shows as Spitting Image and Smith and Jones, he is the founder of the satirical website NewsBiscuit and can occasionally be spotted on such TV programmes as Grumpy Old Men, Newsnight Review and Have I Got News For You.

Following his hugely popular account of the previous 2000 years, John O'Farrell now comes bang up to date with a hilarious modern history asking 'How the hell did we end up here?' 
 
An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain informs, elucidates and laughs at all the bizarre events, ridiculous characters and stupid decisions that have shaped Britain's story since 1945; leaving the Twenty-First Century reader feeling fantastically smug for having the benefit of hindsight.

(or 2000 Years Of Upper Class Idiots In Charge)

An Utterly Impartial History of Britain

A cantankerous history of Britain by one of our most popular humorists

John O'Farrell studied history at Desborough Comprehensive, where he got a B in his O level. He later continued his research by watching lots of programmes about the Nazis on the UK History Channel. 
Apart from that he has published three novels, a memoir and three collections of his popular Guardian column. A former comedy scriptwriter for such shows as Spitting Image and Smith and Jones, he is the founder of the satirical website NewsBiscuit and can occasionally be spotted on such TV programmes as Grumpy Old Men, Newsnight Review and Have I Got News For You.

Many of us were put off history by the dry and dreary way it was taught at school. Back then 'The Origins of the Industrial Revolution' somehow seemed less compelling than the chance to test the bold claim on Timothy Johnson's 'Shatterproof' ruler.But here at last is a chance to have a good laugh and learn all that stuff you feel you really ought to know by now... 
 
In this 'Horrible History for Grown Ups' you can read how Anglo-Saxon liberals struggled to be positive about immigration; 'Look I think we have to try and respect the religious customs of our new Viking friends - oi, he's nicked my bloody ox!'Discover how England's peculiar class system was established by some snobby French nobles whose posh descendents still have wine cellars and second homes in the Dordogne today. And explore the complex socio-economic reasons why Britain's kings were the first in Europe to be brought to heel; (because the Stuarts were such a useless bunch of untalented, incompetent, arrogant, upper-class thickoes that Parliament didn't have much choice.) 
 
A book about then that is also incisive and illuminating about now, '2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge', is an hilarious, informative and cantankerous journey through Britain' fascinating and bizarre history.As entertaining as a witch burning, and a lot more laughs.

I Have A Bream

The latest collection of hilarious Guardian columns by the highly acclaimed and bestselling writer, John O'Farrell

Praise for John O'Farrell: 
 
* 'Very funny, constantly using hard wit to punctuate pretension' - The Times 
 
* 'O'Farrell gives an extra squirm to the traditiona English comedy of embarrassment

An eye-watering journey from innocence to revelation containing 100 funny, satirical essays.

John O'Farrell is the bestselling author of three novels: The Best A Man Can Get, This is Your Life and most recently May Contain Nuts, a satire on the competitive madness of modern parenthood, which he has just passed on to his ten-year-old daughter because she really ought to be reading grown-up novels by now. He has published two previous collections of columns, Global Village Idiot and I Blame the Scapegoats, as well as the political memoir Things Can Only Get Better. He is the editor of Britain's most popular satirical website NewsBiscuit and regularly appears on TV and radio on programmes such as Have I Got News For You and Grumpy Old Men. His work has been translated into over twenty languages, although how the gags work in Norwegian is anyone's guess. 
 
His new book, An Utterly Impartial History of Britain(or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots In Charge), is now available from Doubleday. 
 
He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Isn't it always the way? You wait ages for one purple flour-filled condom and then three come along at once. Of course the correct procedure for a chemical attack in the House of Commons would have been for MPs to remain in the chamber and remove all items of clothing.I'm not sure which is the more horrific vision; anthrax all over London or Nicholas Soames slipping out of his Y-fronts while chatting to a naked Ann Widdecombe. 
 
Here at last is the third collection of John O'Farrell's immensely popular Guardian columns - the final part of the trilogy in which he discovers that Margaret Thatcher is actually his mother. Contained within these covers are a hundred funny, satirical essays on subjects as diverse as Man's ascent from the apes and the re-election of George W. Bush.Plus there is a full account of O'Farrell's heroic but slightly less successful attempt to capture his Tory home town for socialism.He claims that identity fraud has got so bad that an audacious impostor using the name A.L. Blair even managed to get himself a Labour Party card by posing a left-wing champion of wealth distribution and civil rights.He asks why a Blackberry isn't compatible with an Apple.And find out why the Queen didn't go to her own son's wedding; 'What happened to that other girl you were seeing?' 'Mother, we got divorced and then she died in a car crash, remember?' 'Well sometimes you have to work at these things dear...'

May Contain Nuts

A satire about competitive, over-protective parents driving their children to tutors, to ballet, to insanity ...

O'Farrell is a consistently humorous writer with an acute ear for the absurdities of middle class pretension. It's hard to fault his satire on competitive parenting or his conclusions regarding social inequalities

O'Farrell is one of the best contemporary satirists in the business and he has middle class pushy mothers down to a tee in this latest toe-curling, hackle-rising chronicle of hyper-parenting... The one-liners are sublime and the comedic situations utterly hilarious. Don't miss this

O'Farrell has scored a bullseye with this satirical salvo... Taps into Middle England's neuroses with terrific wit

Alice never imagined that she would end up like this. Is she the only mother who feels so permanently panic-stricken at the terrors of the modern world - or is it normal to sit up in bed all night popping bubble wrap? She worries that too much gluten and dairy may be hindering her children's mental arithmetic. She frets that there are too many cars on the road to let them out of the 4x4. Finally she resolves to take control and tackle her biggest worry of all: her daughter is definitely not going to fail that crucial secondary school entrance exam. Because Alice has decided to take the test in her place... 
 
With his trademark comic eye for detail, John O'Farrell has produced a funny and provocative book that will make you laugh, cry and vow never to become that sort of parent. And then you can pass it on to your seven-year-old, because she really ought to be reading grown-up novels by now...

This Is Your Life

A compelling and very funny novel about how we define 'success'

'Excellently done...O'Farrell gives an extra squirm to the traditional English comedy of embarrassment'

It's a big night at the London Palladium. As Jimmy Conway steps out blinking into the spotlights live on national television, he can't help wondering whether he should have perhaps shared his little secret with someone by now. Jimmy has never done any performing of any sort ever before... 
 
Just as 'bogus doctors' are occasionally discovered working in hospitals, Jimmy Conway has become a 'bogus celebrity'; winning an award for something he never did, being photographed in Hello! in someone else's house, and ultimately making a fool of the entire mad and shallow celebrity merry-go-round.

Global Village Idiot

From the bestselling author of THE BEST A MAN CAN GET, the best of his pieces from the Guardian and Independent which garnered him the Best Columnist of the Year Prize.

'This week the first pet passports came into effect. Around the country dogs have been hopping into photo booths and trying to look as relaxed as possible, which is not easy when you know you're not allowed on the chair.' 
 
Gathered here are the best of John O'Farrell's newspaper columns for the Guardian and the Independent which saw him win the coveted Best Columnist of the Year Award at the prestigious British Liars Awards. Among many other things, he claims that the only conviction in the Tory Party will be when Jeffrey Archer gets sent to prison; that scientists have created a genetically superior monkey which will advertise lapsang souchong instead of PG Tips; and that with the election of George W. Bush, the global village has finally got its own global village idiot.

The Best A Man Can Get

The hilarious first novel from the bestselling author of Things Can Only Get Better.

Punchline fuelled, relentless humour...I don't think a woman is going to get much closer to the workings of a man's mind than this. Giggling several times a page with plenty of out-loud laughs is guaranteed. Is John O'Farrell funny? Very

So funny because it rings true... Packed with painfully well-observed jokes

A hilarious confessional narrative. This wickedly observed page-turner lets bachelor-nostalgia joyride to its absurd conclusion... Piquant and irreverently sardonic

This is SO good... so insightful about men, women, love and parenthood that you read every page with a wince of recognition. Fab, fab, fab

Excellent... Things Can Only Get Better will make you laugh out loud

Michael Adams shares a flat with three other men in their late twenties. Days are spent lying in bed, playing computer games and occasionally doing a bit of work. And then, when he feels like it, he crosses the river and goes back to his unsuspecting wife and children. 
 
For Michael is living a double life - he escapes from the exhausting misery of babies by telling his wife he has to work through the night or travel up north. And while she is valiantly coping on her own, he is just a few miles away in a secret flat, doing all the things that most men with small children can only dream about. He thinks he can have it all, until is deception is inevitably exposed... 
 
The Best a Man Can Get is written with the hilarious eye for detail that sent John O'Farrell's first book, Things Can Only Get Better, to the top of the bestseller lists. It is a darkly comic confessional that is at once compelling, revealing and very, very funny.

John O'Farrell Book 2

John O'Farrell

'The funniest book about politics I have ever read' Alastair Campbell 
'Blending sharp satire with wit... a comedic reflection on the divided world' The Scotsman 
'The perfect read for anyone hooked on politics and enjoys good plot laced with humour' Sunday Express 
‘Hilarious…O’Farrell knows his stuff and, in an election year, his wry take on British politics at its most febrile is terrific value’ Mail on Sunday 
_________________ 
 
All across Britain, a generation of grown-up children are graduating from university, moving back in to their old bedrooms and showing their gratitude by berating their parents for their out-of-date politics. 
 
All across Britain, a generation of grown-up children are graduating from university, moving back in to their old bedrooms and showing their gratitude by berating their parents for their out-of-date politics. But for proud and high-profile left-wingers Emma and Eddie Hughes, the return of their only child is a far greater challenge than they ever could have anticipated. Young Dylan had warned them there was something personal he needed to tell them, but nothing could have prepared his right-on parents for the shocking revelation he delivers. Their son is a Conservative. 
 
From John O’Farrell, author of the bestselling political satire, Things Can Only Get Better, comes Family Politics, an insightful, sharply funny and warm-hearted antidote to our divided times. 
_________________ 
Praise for John O'Farrell 
 
'John O’Farrell couldn’t be unfunny if he tried’ Alan Johnson 
‘A joy to read but it is also highly relevant to the contemporary culture' John Boyne 
'More laugh-out-loud gags than the Tory Party has had recent leadership campaigns' Big Issue 
‘A touch of self-deprecation and a sense of humour… John O’Farrell has these qualities in spades’ Guardian 
‘If everyone read this book the country would be a far better place. I laughed, I cried, I loved it’ Jim Down

John O'Farrell

Books by John O'Farrell

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