CHARLIE CROKER
Several years ago, someone told Charlie Croker about a Japanese car hire leaflet that read ‘When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.’ A short while later Croker found himself on a ferry to the Spanish island of La Gomera, reading the instruction ‘Keep this ticket up the end of your trip’ and found himself thinking ‘there might be a book in this …’
Croker’s great love is for the telling detail – be it a mistake on a French menu (‘apple grumble’), or a statistic about his beloved Britain, such as the fact that over 2000 of its listed buildings are red telephone boxes.
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LATEST BOOK: EIGHT OUT OF TEN BRITS: INTRIGUING AND USELESS STATISTICS ABOUT THE WORLD'S 79TH LARGEST NATION
'88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot' - Vic Reeves. These aren't: - The British consume at least double the per capita quantity of baked beans eaten by any other nationality - 20% of men claim that they can do DIY jobs better than any professional - By early 2005 there were more mobile phones in the UK than people - at least 60 million - The divorce rate in 2007 was the lowest in 30 years - A 2008 survey found that while on the toilet: 39% of people read, 21% of people text, 21% of people talk (on the phone or to a family member). In 8 out of 10 Brits, Charlie Croker paints a quirkily numerical portrait of Britain. Full of surprising facts about who we are, fascinating information about what we do, and revealing figures about how we've changed, this is the essential companion to British life.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: 8 out of 10 Brits: Intriguing and Useless Statistics About the World’s 79th Largest Nation; Random House, 2009, Still Lost in Translation: More Misadventures in English Abroad; Random House, 2007, Lost in Translation: Misadventures in English Abroad; Michael O’Mara, 2006, A Game of Three Halves; Boxtree, 2002, Great Goal, Gorgeous Legs; Boxtree, 2002
