Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About, by Mil Millington, Hodder & Stoughton 2002, 338pp.

Over a year ago we wasted some time at work reading Mr Millington's very funny website. I noticed the book, but was put off by the reviews on Amazon. More recently, I figured what the hell, even if the book is thin, I bet I will laugh out loud at some of the turns of phrase, which is more than I get from most books. And I did. The story is contrived, and Ursula is one-dimensional, but that is okay, really. It would have been clever if, at the end, Ursula had, with ruthless Teutonic efficiency, cleared up the mess (triads, toxic waste) that Pel had made. But she does not. Oh, well.

I signed up for the TMGAIHAA emails, but have not received any.

The image of Ursula kicking butt at the end reminds me of Zazie, which I really enjoyed in college. I wonder if it is worth re-reading (maybe in French this time). I reread Tales of the City a few months ago, and it had not aged well.

Gavin wrote: He stopped writing them in the guardian some months ago iirc. Now they print some Jon Ronson stuff instead. Mil's stuff was very funny.

Ewan wrote: TMGAIHAA emails are **very** few and far between. Once every couple of months. Kind of amusing book. Made me laugh too. Which is ok in a book.

David wrote: I looked at the website. He's often pretty funny, but he comes across as a pretty unpleasant guy. I guess that helps his humor.

Alison wrote: Zazie is timeless (although it's been a few years since I re-read it). I have great respect for all things Queneau-ish, and I have a copy of Zazie in French, if you would like to borrow it.