
Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for The Guardian. Her writing style is both feminist and humorous. Mangan grew up in Catford, south east London, but both her parents were originally from Lancashire. She studied English at Cambridge University and trained to be a solicitor. After qualifying as a solicitor, she began to work instead in a bookshop and then, in 2003, found a work experience placement at The Guardian. She continues to work at The Guardian writing a regular column and TV reviews plus occasional features. Her book My Family and other Disasters (2009) is a collection of her newspaper columns. She has also written books about her childhood and her wedding. Mangan also has a regular column for Stylist magazine and has been a judge for the Booktrust Roald Dahl Funny Prize.
Meet Liz: all she wants is some peace and quiet so she can read a book with her cat Henry, love of her life, by her side. But trampling all over this dream is a group of wild things also known as Liz's family. Namely:Richard - a man, a husband, no serious rival to Henry.Thomas - their sensitive seven year old son, for whom life is a bed of pain already.Evie - five year old acrobat, gangster, anarchist, daughter.And as if her family's demands (Where are the door keys? Are we made of plastic? Do 'ghost poos' really count?) weren't enough, Liz must also contend with the madness of parents, friends, bosses, and at least one hovering nemesis. Are We Having Fun Yet? is a year with one woman as she faces all the storms of modern life (babysitters, death, threadworms) on her epic quest for that holy grail: a moment to herself.
When Lucy Mangan was little, stories were everything. They opened up new worlds and cast light on all the complexities she encountered in this one.She was whisked away to Narnia – and Kirrin Island – and Wonderland. She ventured down rabbit holes and womble burrows into midnight gardens and chocolate factories. She wandered the countryside with Milly-Molly-Mandy, and played by the tracks with the Railway Children. With Charlotte’s Web she discovered Death and with Judy Blume it was Boys. No wonder she only left the house for her weekly trip to the library or to spend her pocket money on amassing her own at home.In Bookworm, Lucy revisits her childhood reading with wit, love and gratitude. She relives our best-beloved books, their extraordinary creators, and looks at the thousand subtle ways they shape our lives. She also disinters a few forgotten treasures to inspire the next generation of bookworms and set them on their way.Lucy brings the favourite characters of our collective childhoods back to life – prompting endless re-readings, rediscoveries, and, inevitably, fierce debate – and brilliantly uses them to tell her own story, that of a born, and unrepentant, bookworm.
As a child, Lucy Mangan was reading all the time, using books to navigate the challenges and complexities of this world and many others. As an adult, she uses her new relationship with literature to seize upon the most important (how) do books prepare us for life?Bookish picks up where Bookworm left at the cusp of teenage, when everything – including the way we read – undergoes a not-so-subtle transformation. Here, Mangan vividly recounts her metamorphosis from bookworm to bookish adult, from the way GCSE curricula can impact our relationship with literature to the growing pains of swapping the pleasures of re-reading for those of book-hoarding. Revisiting the specific stories that ferried her through navigating various important stages of life – first love, first job, marriage, motherhood, and grief – Bookish maps the author’s coming-of-age in books and life lessons and sheds valuable light on how a love for reading can be nurtured intergenerationally.
by Lucy Mangan
Rating: 3.8 ⭐
Celebrate the 50 years of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with this scrumdiddlyumptious book about the iconic novel and author!Inside Charlie’s Chocolate Factory explores the unique appeal and lasting cultural impact of Roald Dahl’s beloved classic. This non-fiction book looks at the development of the original story and charaters, its social history, and the varying film and stage adaptations. With never-before-seen material from the archives, full-color photos and illustrations throughout, and quotes from Roald Dahl enthusiasts this gorgeously produced gift book is a great way for fans to celebrate Charlie, Wonka, and Roald Dahl!
by Lucy Mangan
Rating: 3.8 ⭐
A hilarious account of the year Lucy Mangan got married (having always said she wouldn't). But now she has to find a caterer who doesn't charge a fortune for a cupcake, a dressmaker who doesn't make her cry and a way to bring Great Auntie Betty down from Dundee for the sixpence she is willing to spend - isn't it meant to be HER special day?
Lucy Mangan is a feature writer for the Guardian and author of Hopscotch and Handbags: The Truth about being a Girl. This wonderful collection of pieces from her popular column is a wry look at family life and relationships.
Just what does it mean to be a girl? Why is it not like being a boy? And why is that a good thing? Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan lifts the lid on being female. From a daughter's place within the family ('It's a girl! What a pity!'), through the intricacies of what not to wear and who not to talk to, Brownies and breasts, the stuff you want to remember and the stuff you'd rather forget, this brilliantly funny guide is a full and frank account of how it really is different for girls. Packed with bittersweet memories and the sharpest observations from one of the brightest lights in journalism, this is the genius offspring of the bestselling How to Walk in High Heels and I Don't Know Know How She Does It . Part nostalgia, part journalism, fully it's a glorious romp through all things female.
by Lucy Mangan
Rating: 5.0 ⭐
Please Note That The Following Individual Books As Per Original ISBN and Cover Image In this Listing shall be Dispatched Titles In This A Memoir of Childhood ReadingAre We Having Fun Yet? [Hardcover] A Memoir of Childhood Reading, Are We Having Fun Yet? [Hardcover] 2 Books Collection Set By Lucy When Lucy Mangan was little, stories were everything. They opened up different worlds and cast new light on this one. She was whisked away to Narnia, and Kirrin Island, and Wonderland. She ventured down rabbit holes and womble burrows into midnight gardens and chocolate factories. With Charlotte’s Web she discovered Death and with Judy Blume it was Boys. No wonder she only left the house for her weekly trip to the library.Are We Having Fun Yet? [Hardcover]:'Such a perfectly precise rendering of life with small children, I felt like I was reading my own diary ... had I been cleverer, wittier and more intent on finding the joy and hope and humour amid all the mess of life' - Meg Mason 'A glorious, outrageously funny retelling of E.M. Delafield's Diary of a Provincial Lady. At once, a celebration of the joy of family life and a cry of anguish at the utter hell of it. Laugh out loud, compulsive reading' - Nina Stibbe.