The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book
The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book was a fundraising book issued on behalf of
Contents
The book is of particular interest to fans of Douglas Adams' work as it contains several items written by him which are hard to find or exclusive to the collection. Besides the novella
Items by other authors include:
- Adrian Mole's Christmas, an addition to Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series (later included in The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole).
- A New Decade of Heroic Failures, an exclusive addition to Stephen Pile's Book of Heroic Failures.
- Tie-ins to popular TV comedies of the day including Yes Minister, The Young Ones and Spitting Image.
Fundraising
The book promised that profits would be distributed "80% to
Censorship
The book has never been reprinted following its initial print run, as a result of
In line with its Christmas theme the book contained several pieces based on the Christian nativity story, including:
- The Gospel According to a Sheep by Richard Curtis with additions by Douglas Adams. This tells the story of the nativity night from the point of view of a sheep that gets eaten as part of the celebrations, and therefore has a slightly jaundiced view of the whole affair.
- The Young Ones' Nativity Play in which the characters from The Young Ones act out the nativity story in typically irreverent style.
- Jesus' Birthday in which Jesus is portrayed as a grumpy and mischievous child in a modern household.
Contributors
References
- ^ "Times Diary - Not so comic". The Times. December 3, 1986.
External links
- An audio interview with Douglas Adams from 1988, in which he refers to the book and its censorship.
- The full text of The Private Life of Genghis Khan on Douglas Adams' website