E-ntertaining! (The E Before Christmas - Matt Beaumont)

Member Name: fluffypup

Product:	The E Before Christmas - Matt Beaumont
Date:	21/03/01 (582 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilariously funny and crude with great characters and a unique “email” style of writing.

Disadvantages: Too short (120 pages), a bit rushed (probably due to the author’s highly critical acclaimed success first novel and to cash in for Xmas) and a few emails are out of order.

Thursday, 21st March 2001

Fluffypup - 21/03/01, 3.39pm

To… Dooyoo Book Section
CC… Dooyoo Member Profile; File
Re… The ‘e’ before Christmas by Matt Beaumont

Ohhhhh, no they’re back! The ‘e’ before Christmas is the second instalment to the highly acclaimed and utterly hilarious novel ‘e’ – liars, knickers and lost lunch, by Matt Beaumont. The novel is written in the same love it or loathe it e-mail style (see above shenanigans).

The second ‘e’ is set within the rather dysfunctional London advertising agency of Millershanks (MS). However did they manage to survive ‘the’ disastrous ad campaign for Coke earlier in the year? Well they did but only just! Harriet, the head honcho of the London branch, wants a “Christmas party that everyone will be talking about for years to come”. Will it live up to her expectations? Knowing Millershanks if something is going to go wrong, it definitely goes wrong - big style!

The Xmas ‘e’ has the same weird crackpot characters as before. You have the PAs. Who spend most of their time ‘doing lunch’ and emailing one another to find out who has been sleeping with whom. Head PA misfit is Susie Judge-Davis; commonly referred to as Judge Dread, breadstick and stick insect – these are only the nicer names! Susie has trouble with most things; except sucking up to whoever her boss is at the time. The next Muppet must come the lovely Nigel from Accounts, commonly referred to ‘Nige’ to his friends – that’s if he had any! Old Nigel (note the spelling) is MS’s geek with a conscience. Frequently, in trouble for expressing his non-opinions, not that anyone wanted to hear them in the first place, in the ‘all-departments’ emails.

The morally whiter-than-white vegan Pinki heads the Creative Department. Creative more in a sen
se of writing creative and entertaining emails rather than successful Ad campaigns. Liam adds a touch of unruly sarcasm, quick wit and ready repartee to the team whilst ably assisted by the new partnership of Ed and Wanda. Both seem to be highly talented, all be it in their respective anarchistic and lesbian views. Wanda becomes a love rival with Liam for the affection of PA Lorraine. Not that Liam cares; it’s just another massive turn on for him!

Old favourites, Brett and Vin still manage to make an appearance, especially on the drinking benders at the usual MS haunts like BZ. Has Vin (technophobe) finally mastered how to send email yet? Another Vincent also gets a starring role in this novel (although, indirectly), as Vinnie Jones has been hired to hand out the awards at the Millershanks Xmas do! Only a few of the employees seem to be misinformed on whether he’s a tennis, football or rugby player. These are the same employees who get drafted in to write his speech!

A few unlikely MS rejects (don’t want to say because non-‘e’ readers should read the first book) also make another grand appearance after being kicked out of MS after their disastrous incompetence of ‘THE’ ad campaign at the beginning of the year.

Pertti Van Helden is MS’s Finnish MD who is stuck in a warped Eurovision-come-70s-English-television upbringing mode makes another guest appearance, as all of the MS Euro MDs have a conference around Christmas time in London, coincidence of all coincidences!

The management team consist of Harriet, the London MD; Rachel, the ever-civil Head of Personnel; Ken the office do-gooder office administrator; Daniel, untrustworthy and ever the ‘sloping shoulders’ sort (who knows what Daniel’s job function is a part because he spends most of the time evading work and doing lunch!); and James F Weissmuller, the American Head of Millershanks.

It’s around th
e beginning of October 2000, Harriet wants a Millershanks Christmas party that everyone will be talking about for years to come – mainly for all the right reasons rather than the usual wrong reasons! She empowers Daniel, the man with the Teflon shoulders, to make all the necessary arrangements, as the creative team are busy with the “right wing Barbie” (bi, burst pipe & teenage mum Barbie with House Hubby Ken) and O’Malley’s Microwave Fry Ups (apparently they make Pot Noodle taste good, or words of that effect from both Liam and Ed!). It’s Daniel’s PA, Susie (if something goes wrong it goes horribly wrong) gets to head the Christmas party committee – venue (has to be anywhere a part from the company car park), theme (anything apart from Nige’s suggestion for a nativity) and entertainment (anything apart Nigel’s suggestion of Cliff Richard!) including London Millershank awards.

The second ‘e’ book provides great entertainment, hilarity and the usual side splitting laughs. The emails are cutting, funny, crude, rude and distasteful as the original. The only difference being this is a run up to Christmas, rather just after and the dawning of the new Millershanks millennium in the last book. There are the usual touches of genius by the author – who else but dim-witted misfit Susie is placed in charge of organising a Christmas party. Its bound to go wrong! It’s just a matter of by how much and how hilarious! Susie has had more than her fair share of cacophony of cock-ups in the first book! Will the Christmas party just another string in her bow for her CV or will it be her P45 this time?

New characters, Ed and Wanda, bring a new vibe to the creative department. Ed’s more than a match for the foul mouth pop superstars employed in his O’Malley’s Fry Up campaign. Who would believe whom he scripted in to advertise a greasy fry up? Pinkie, the company ‘
vegan’, is more than happy to steer clear of advertising any meat products, although she’s more than willing to support the outrageous and very controversial right wing Barbie campaign! Hmmm… it’s a hard choice picking which doll you would want to buy your daughter for Christmas - “House Hubby Ken (all-new Asian dad, complete with working Hoover)” or “Teenie Mom Barbie (set includes three mixed-race babies and a benefit claims kit)”. Wanda adds a touch of intelligence, if only matching Liam’s attempts at bedding his ‘girlfriend’ and PA, Lorraine. Nigel, or Nige, is a scream if only being a complete and utter blank! He has to takes credit for writing the best email out of the whole book, concerning which employee won which award at the Christmas bash! Talking of bashes, does Vinnie Jones manage to stay out of a fight considering the script he has been given and the gratitude of some of the winners of certain awards? Who wins the “Pertti Van Helden” award? Does Vin manage to score at the party? Does James F Weissmuller see the funny side of the catastrophic Christmas party or do heads role – not the hang over variety! Surely, the musical entertainment can’t be all that bad or can it?

‘e’ before Christmas is a short and successful follow up to the ‘e’ – liars, lunches and lost knickers. It’s as funny, crude and rude just like before! It’s too brief at 120 pages and a bit rushed (probably due to the author’s acclaimed success of his first novel and wanting to cash in for Christmas) but at £2.99 is a real gem! This novel consists entirely of emails, which I find more to my liking than a conventionally written novel. It’s funny but not as funny as previously, maybe because it was rushed (there are a few emails that are out of order within the book!) to get this out before Xmas. The build up to the party, the ad campaigns
, the misfit characters and the party aftermath are just so damn funny and so addictive to read! It’s the anticipation of the next disaster, who said what to whom, the Chinese whispers within the various emails, who slept (the clean version) with whom and in such an unique email style, which makes this book a success. Do I recommend this book? What do you reckon? I would highly recommend buying the first book (‘e’ – liars, lunch & lost knickers) and then reading this book, as the first book introduces the characters whereas this books degenerates them further! If you don’t like heavy doses of swearing and crudeness don’t buy read this book!

Fluffypup - 21/03/01, 6.39pm

To… Dooyoo Book Section
CC… Dooyoo Member Profile; File
Re… The ‘e’ before Christmas by Matt Beaumont

BTW ISBN: 0-00-711487

Summary: