Ben Elton's Identity Crisis

[TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross]

Has anyone else read this? Am reading it now - a satirical reflection on today's society with a particular focus on gender identity and social media.

I've just got to the bit where Mumsnet gets name-checked: after a trans woman is murdered, there's a thread on MN asking why this murder gets more attention than the murders of "ordinary women" and then an online campaign forces MN moderators to ban the phrase "ordinary women" as hate-speak.

I did pause to reflect on this passage, where the protagonist is thinking about the character who is very clearly based on Germaine Greer:

"Even five years earlier no one would have imagined that a whole generation of women with vaginas would unite in defence of women with penises to take down a woman with a vagina who had previously been a feminist icon."

Ah, I did like Inconceivable. Maybe Baby was made watchable by Hugh Laurie, who is always brilliant.

To paraphrase an old Jo Brand quote, "Never trust a woman with testicles" .

I'm not a fan of his stand up, but he's one of my favourite authors.

Off to order on kindle.

It says on Amazon that the paperback will be available from 8th Aug.

I’m pre ordering.

Sorry - I posted this last night, read a bit more, and fell asleep!

It's really spot on as observational satire of what the UK is like today, now. I don't want to give too many spoilers if you're going to read it but parts of it have echoed so many discussions I've seen on here. I read an interview with him about it where he talks about being of that generation who was really politically active - fighting Clause 28, campaigning against tampon poverty and so on - and then suddenly realising how out of date it all is and how dramatically and weirdly the world has changed. Here - not too many spoilers, I don't think.

It's really interesting on the role of social media and how quickly misinformation is spread and how easily people are manipulated by it.

I bloody love Ben Elton! He's a really underrated contemporary novelist IMO and he's written many books which were really perceptive and on the money in nailing what's going on in the zeitgeist, issues about celebrity, privacy etc
^^
This
Going to see him live in October. Really looking forwrd to it.

I just booked a ticket to see him in my own (which is a first for me), saw him several times in the 1990's/00's

I read an interview with him months ago where he briefly discussed the subject of the book but gave away no details and I did wonder which way it was going to go. I wonder if he’ll get a virtual kicking, or is it only middle aged vagina havers that still read books these days, hence it might slip under the radar?

AlwaysComingHome yes it's out in paperback, I just bought it.

Thanks for posting this. I used to love Ben Elton but somehow forgot about him! Will buy this book

OMG this is the best news if Ben is GC. He's a legend and so insightful. He'd skewer all the incoherent, pomo, reality denying bollocks. Does everyone know he's going on tour this year for the first time in 15 years? Book your tickets now!
www.benelton.net

AlwaysComingHome yes it's out in paperback, I just bought it.

Where did you buy it from Always? It says on Amazon that it isn’t available in paperback, until August.

@LizzieSiddal Identity Crisis is his latest book and that's not out till Aug (in paperback)

Ah thanks Sunkisses, I confused myself there.

@plattercake

I also love Upstart Crow. And picked up GC moments too

I've seen both series but I can't seem to remember anything that was particularly GC. Although since a number of PPs have mentioned this I guess it means that I'm just not very observant.

Would you mind giving me a couple of examples?

Or perhaps this is just the excuse I need to go and rewatch it on Netflix?

I'll be following him on Twitter

In airports in large format paperback.

I also love Upstart Crow. And picked up GC moments too

I thought so too, yes. And I thought it was a very sympathetic (while still being funny) portrayal of the female character who can't act because she's not a man.

I can't find Ben on Twitter - has anyone else?

If he's not there, explains the lack of backlash, which is hugely twitter-centred.

No I can't find him, although I did see the book condemned by a trans lesbian using this thread lol.

I am sure he popped up on there on something quite a while ago and disappeared (might be mixing up my comedians though).

Probably wise. Twitter is not the world, after all.

My book group picked it when it first came out, we all loved it and it started some really interesting conversations.

My views on sex and gender had already started changing because of a lot of the kinder posters on the Mumsnet feminism who answered my questions with patience and tolerance, but this book also fed into that.

Ben Elton was my teenage crush in the 1980s. I used to clip his weekly columns out of the Daily Mirror, and watched the same episodes of Friday and Saturday Night Live on tape over and over again. And let's not forget the genius of The Young Ones and Blackadder. I'll be delighted if he is a GC ally. Just ordered the book!

The mini series of Stark was on YouTube not so long ago if anyone is interested.

I've got a stack of Audible credits so I think I'll get this as my next listen.

I won't be following him on Twitter after all bc he's not on it.