Awards

• Winner of Lakeland Book of the Year Awards 2022 (UK)

Overview

WINNER OF THE LAKELAND BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2022 'For those who know about provincial newspapers, this will be a classic and a gem. Those who don't know will envy what they have missed' MELVYN BRAGG 'Brisk and entertaining. A very readable love letter to a disappearing world, told with verve and tenderness' STUART MACONIE, author of Pies and Prejudice 'Gut-bustingly funny, poignant and packed with astonishing insider information' M. W. CRAVEN, author of the award-winning The Puppet Show 'Local journalism has never seemed more exotic than in this part-memoir, part-ode to that disappearing art, which is as funny as it is endearing . . . Told with a tender fondness, the bonkers, baffling but vital world of local press is paraded with the style that it deserves' JONATHAN WHITELAW, Sun 'Refreshingly honest, engagingly self-deprecating, tremendously funny and more than a little heartbreaking. By far my favourite read of the year so far' MIKE WARD, TV critic, Daily Express/Daily Star 'Local publishers . . . need to hold on to thoughtful, dedicated writers such as Roger Lytollis, or his book will be an epitaph to a centuries-old industry' IAN BURRELL, i paper 'Anyone who has ever worked at a local newspaper, or wondered what it is like, should read this book. Equally hilarious and heartbreaking' DOMINIC PONSFORD, media editor at New Statesman Media Group/editor-in-chief at Press Gazette '[Lytollis] writes with clarity, comically self-effacing honesty and surprising poignancy . . . [this is] the story of what it is like to love what you do, and be great at it, and to watch it collapse around you in slow motion' ROBYN VINTER, Guardian 'For anyone wondering where their local press went, this is as clear an account of how it was pickpocketed, drained of blood, and left to die as you'll find' ED NEEDHAM, Strong Words magazine 'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets gives a powerful, if not to say dismaying, overview of an industry in terminal decline' NAT SEGNIT, Times Literary Supplement 'The best book I've read this year, by some margin. Brilliantly written, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, but also reflective, candid, poignant and passionate about the importance of journalism. Superb' CHRIS MASON, BBC political correspondent/presenter of Radio 4's Any Questions 'Many books written by journalists have come across my desk over the course of my time as publisher of Hold the Front Page, but I would say without any hesitation that this one is the best. Not only is it the funni

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9781472145802

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Reviews

Very funny, very witty, very moving . . . packed with incidents, insights and a real feeling for provincial life at its best . . . For those who know about provincial newspapers, this will be a classic and a gem. Those who don't know will envy what they have missed . . . It really is a terrific piece of work. -- Melvyn Bragg Brisk and entertaining. A very readable love letter to a disappearing world, told with verve and tenderness. -- STUART MACONIE, author of <i>Pies and Prejudice</i> and BBC Radio 6 Music presenter This was the only book I read in one sitting this year and if you're lucky enough to get your hands on a copy, you'll soon understand why. It's gut-bustingly funny, poignant and packed with astonishing insider information. -- M. W. Craven, author of the award-winning <i>The Puppet Show</i> Local publishers . . . need to hold on to thoughtful, dedicated writers such as Roger Lytollis, or his book will be an epitaph to a centuries-old industry. -- Ian Burrell * i paper * Anyone who has ever worked at a local newspaper, or wondered what it is like, should read this book. Equally hilarious and heartbreaking. -- Dominic Ponsford, media editor at New Statesman Media Group/editor-in-chief at <i>Press Gazette</i> [Lytollis] writes with clarity, comically self-effacing honesty and surprising poignancy . . . But this book is not really about him. It is simply the story of what it is like to love what you do, and be great at it, and to watch it collapse around you in slow motion. It is about the regressive form of 'progress' that the news industry has been subjected to for the last 25 years, and what it does to the people who are part of that system and the communities that can no longer rely on it. -- Robyn Vinter * Guardian * Refreshingly honest, engagingly self-deprecating, tremendously funny and more than a little heartbreaking. By far my favourite read of the year so far. -- Mike Ward, TV critic, <i>Daily Express</i>/<i>Daily Star</i> Local journalism has never seemed more exotic than in this part-memoir, part-ode to that disappearing art, which is as funny as it is endearing . . . Told with a tender fondness, the bonkers, baffling but vital world of local press is paraded with the style that it deserves. -- Jonathan Whitelaw * Sun * Panic as Man Burns Crumpets gives a powerful, if not to say dismaying, overview of an industry in terminal decline. -- Nat Segnit * Times Literary Supplement * For anyone wondering where their local press went, this is as clear an account of how it was pickpocketed, drained of blood, and left to die as you'll find. -- Ed Needham * Strong Words magazine * A love letter to the trade, though written with a touch of the poison pen. -- Colin Freeman * Telegraph * The best book I've read this year, by some margin. Brilliantly written, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, but also reflective, candid, poignant and passionate about the importance of journalism. Superb. -- Chris Mason, BBC political correspondent/presenter of Radio 4's <i>Any Questions</i) Many books written by journalists have come across my desk over the course of my time as publisher of Hold the Front Page, but I would say without any hesitation that this one is the best. Not only is it the funniest, and the best-written, it is also the most honest in terms of what it reveals about its author, and more importantly about our craft. -- Paul Linford * Hold the Front Page *

Author Information

ROGER LYTOLLIS is the author of Panic as Man Burns Crumpets: The Vanishing World of the Local Journalist and On a Pedestal: A Trip Around Britain's Statues. Since 1995 Roger has been a feature writer and columnist for some of the UK's best local newspapers. He's a three-time winner at the Regional Press Awards. And a twelve-time loser at the North West Media Awards. He isn't bitter about that at all. Roger lives in Cumbria. Twitter: @rogerlytollis

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