By now it should be fairly obvious that my passion is fiction and, whilst I know that I should read more non-fiction, I can rarely get involved in it. I think it's similar to why I can't really get enthusiastic about sport; I like things with a narrative which slots together nicely, and football matches or test cricket doesn't work in the way I want it to.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that this is only the second non-fiction book I've read this year. My previous read, Spell it Out by David Crystal was all about the etymology of words in the English language. This book was far less high-brow. Shouting at the Telly is a collection of short articles (essays sounds far too pretentious for the subject matter) about television. Intended to be humorous, they touch upon such important things as whether Freddie from Scooby Doo is a pervert or whether Ken Barlow is more real than anybody born after him. In other words, it's about as educational as the last lesson at the end of term.
There were comments in here which made me smile with recognition, such as how Alan Dale (aka Jim from Neighbours) has made a career out of having heart attacks and why people from Eastenders never leave the Square for anything. There were articles and indeed whole sections I skipped as they either didn't interest me or were beyond me, as I think this book is aimed at somebody possibly a generation older than me due to the references. It was a decent enough book to dip into, but it hasn't converted me to a love of things factual and non-fictional.
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