Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Featuring stories by: James Acaster, Clare Ferguson Walker, Toby Hadoke, Natalie Haynes, Rufus Hound, Robin Ince, Elis James, Stewart Lee, Josie Long, Alice Lowe, Jason Manford, Alan Moore, Andrew O’Neill, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, John Robertson and Isy Suttie. This is a very rich one-year memoir of Robin Ince accepting the challenge to do a tour of 100 independent bookshops, but being a bit of an obsessive, he actually visits many more than that. Most travelling gets done by train, and the vehicular cardiganned Robin crams his bags with treasures from almost each shop, subsisting on biscuits, or possibly cake. What a life! Robin Ince buys a LOT of books- especially from the charity shops and in comparison I feel far less concerned than I did about owning too many.
Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince | Waterstones Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince | Waterstones
Something that we’re terrible at in Britain, and particularly in England, is excitement,” he says. “We have a fear of genuine delight. Everyone’s very good at laughing loudly in a scary way late at night drunk on a train, but that vulnerability of exposing yourself in the cold light of day by saying ‘I love this!’ is something we often fear. I love exploring ideas that stay with people and encourage us all to investigate the world more. I find that very exciting.” One day Bookish will be an acceptable nationality for your passport. It is not about where you are born; it’s about which books you are living in.When his autumn 2021 stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to coronavirus, the comic set off on a tour of more than a hundred independent bookshops instead, journeying from Wigtown to Penzance, Swansea to Margate. There is something familiar, that coming home feeling when someone writes of their love of something that you equally love. Robin Ince loves books, bookshops and buying books. A kindred spirit indeed. He’s also slightly awkward, never quite what he feels people expect and just wonderfully open about it all. If all that wasn’t enough, he has the good sense to appreciate the word ‘mither’, therefore, he has made the upper echelons of ‘my favourite book’ so far, this year. As a Yorkshire lass, a mere mention of a Northern word, I’m on your side. You may think you have a book problem but, as likely as not, comedian Ince’s will dwarf it. Incapable of exiting a bookshop with just one volume, he ran out of shelf space long ago – and that’s after he donated 6,000 books to charity. In 2021, when Covid nixed a tour he’d planned with Prof Brian Cox, Ince hit on the idea of visiting 100 bookshops around the UK in just two months, notionally promoting his last book, The Importance of Being Interested. There’s some nice travel writing here as he wends his way from Wigtown to Penzance, along with cosy anecdotes about the folk he encounters and some madcap tangents, invariably prompted by his eclectic reading habits. She and Her Cat
Bibliomaniac, by Robin Ince - The Scotsman Book reviews: Bibliomaniac, by Robin Ince - The Scotsman
I enjoyed this book, but feel it has a relatively narrow audience that would have the same connection to it, hence the three star rating. Robin Ince is quite clearly addicted to buying books with an almost random enthusiasm, and this book is arguably more about that addiction than about the hundred bookstore tour he did that is the hook the book is hung on. A conversation with Robin Ince is a bit like weaving your way rapidly around the shelves of a second-hand book shop with a highly enthusiastic proprietor. Warm and gregarious, he hops from one subject to another with genuine delight and fascination. Ince has known Gervais for more than 30 years and has been his support on tour. And he says they still argue about the nature of offence.The Infinite Monkey Cage, the legendary BBC Radio 4 programme, brings you this irreverent celebration of scientific marvels. Join us on a hectic leap through the grand and bizarre ideas conjured up by human imagination, from dark matter to consciousness via neutrinos and earthworms. Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince muse on multifaceted subjects involved in building a universe, with pearls of wisdom from leading scientists and comedians peppered throughout. Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel is split into two 30-minute episodes, Inside Robin Ince and Outside Robin Ince. Joyfully entertaining. F ull of warmth, wisdom and affectionate delight in the wonder and absurdity of being human.’ Observer Exploring the human brain's relationship with reality, the show features Ince talking about his ADHD and how he sings to himself in a made-up language Why play to 12,000 people when you can play to 12? In Autumn 2021, Robin Ince's stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to the pandemic. Rather than do nothing, he decided he would instead go on a tour of over a hundred bookshops, from Wigtown to Penzance; from Swansea to Margate.
Robin Ince lands Radio 4 stand-up show - British Comedy Guide Robin Ince lands Radio 4 stand-up show - British Comedy Guide
Robin enjoyed the tour so much that it inspired another book, Bibliomaniac (“the fastest book I’ve ever written”), and he almost immediately set off on the road again while planning the launch of an online Bibliomaniac book club and continuing his other ongoing project, BBC Radio Four’s The Infinite Monkey Cage , again with his good friend Brian Cox.
Featuring stories by Mitch Benn, Katy Brand, Neil Edmond, Richard Herring, Charlie Higson, Matthew Holness, Rufus Hound, Robin Ince, Phill Jupitus, Tim Key, Stewart Lee, Michael Legge, Al Murray, Sara Pascoe, Reece Shearsmith and Danielle Ward. Anyway, Ince's love of books and joy in talking about them comes through strongly in Bibliomaniac. He is a compelling and very funny writer, both about travel and books. I laughed out loud at anecdotes like this:
Great Deal 
New Comment