What Just Happened?! cover art

What Just Happened?!

Dispatches from Turbulent Times

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What Just Happened?!

By: Marina Hyde
Narrated by: Colleen Prendergast, Marina Hyde
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About this listen

This audio contains exclusive bonus material: Marina Hyde in conversation with Caitlin Moran

No other writer is more suited to chronicling the absurd times in which we live.

In What Just Happened?! Marina Hyde slashes her way through the hellscape of post-referendum politics, where the chaos never stops. Clamber aboard as we relive every inspirational moment of magic, from David Cameron to Theresa May to Boris Johnson. Marvel at the sights, from Trumpian WTF-ery to celebrity twattery. And boggle at the cast of characters: Hollywood sex offenders, populists, sporting heroes (and villains), dastardly dukes, media barons, movie stars, reality TV monsters, billionaires, police officers, various princes and princesses, wicked advisers, philanthropists, fauxlanthropists, telly chefs, and (naturally) Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s the full state banquet of crazy – and you’re most cordially invited.

Drawn from her spectacularly funny Guardian columns, What Just Happened?! is a welcome blast of humour and sanity in a world where reality becomes stranger than fiction.

©2022 Marina Hyde (P)2022 Guardian Faber Publishing Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing Funny Witty Comedy Royalty Stranger

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Critic reviews

"The most lethal, vital, screamingly funny truth-teller of our time." (Phoebe Waller-Bridge)

"A joyous rallying voice in British journalism." (Grayson Perry)

"It's a scientific FACT: Marina Hyde is Britain's funniest writer." (Caitlin Moran)
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Originally I thought this book would be different,maybe more about Marina's life lessons and I dreaded the fact that I had to revisit all Brexit drama years again. However it is well written as always and witty and historical points are considered with the benefit of hindsight so it wasn's as painfull as I assumed. Marina is a great political comentator and although I am biased as we both share left leaning beliefs she is fair and critical of both sides equally and that I apreciate the most in today's polarised world of politics. We need more journalists like her in these crazy times of lies and deceates of political classes to keep them on their toes.

Love her

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I’m confused as to why MH didn’t just record this herself? The person doing it makes her sound smug - She’s a poor choice. I’m about 25% of the way through and her voice and performance is already irritating.

Shame, as MH’s stuff is fantastic.

Another great book let down by the narrator

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So funny, dense rich language an analogies that you wish you could emulate. If you like Marina's column then it is a cert. Even if you just have a passing interest in politics, this is a must listen. I have listened about 10 times now as dip in and out each week a few chapters.

WTF indeed ! Genius

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There’s no one who captures the zeitgeist quite like Marina Hyde. Absolutely hilarious - love, love, loved it!

Perfection

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If, like me , you were reluctant to revisit our ghastly recent history and have already read many of the pieces anthologised here, don’t hesitate. The writing is scintillating and razor sharp and worth revisiting. The observations and bizarre analogies are apt and truthful. The reader does full justice to the text which is an important consideration. Marina Hyde is an expert witness to our troubled times and a joyful remedy for despair.

A rare gift

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I read pretty much all Marina Hyde’s (political) columns. They are the best I have ever come across. These cover post Brexit and Trump plus loads more. No doubt as we get ready for Trump 2: Saving America, Marina will supply the throat and brain soothers to keep us all sane.

Pure genius.

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I wondered if this would work as an audio book. I had no doubt as to the content: Marina is a genius and a fair amount of the material was stuff I at least partly remembered from her columns over the past few years. But a collection of columns usually needs to be in ‘actual book’ form, and dipped into. But this totally worked as a continuous narrative…I don’t know how she did it, but it kept me hooked all the way through.

Secondly, I was a bit disappointed, initially, that Marina wasn’t reading it herself…however, the reader chosen, someone I haven’t encountered before, was more than up to the job. She, too, was brilliant, I thought.

Finally: the content. It showed what acres of top class, well informed and witty writing MH produces, week by month by year. Nothing in it, IMHO, was anything near sub par, and I can think of few other writers who seem to unable to write a bad paragraph. As well as being informative, it all contains at least wry amusement and, more often than not, just reduces me to helpless laughter.

And, given that MH doesn’t shrink from serious, sad or enraging subject matter, how does she manage not to come across as bitter and twisted? I don’t know, but she somehow manages it. In the interview with Caitlin Moran at the end, and elsewhere, I’ve heard MH describe her approach as, ‘are you thinking what I’m thinking? That’s ok and there are plenty of others who feel the same.’ Maybe that’s the trick. There was also some discussion of its being good for one’s mental health to write things down; something I do, anyway, but Caitlin ( I think, or else Richard Osman, who has also interviewed MH recently) suggested also that reading the writing of someone like minded helps, too. So I think MH’s columns have genuinely helped to keep a lot of us sane during the last few insane years (not over yet…)

Ok, it’s well past time I stopped, but I will also just say that this kind of writing usually dates very quickly: predictions turn out wrong, events font turn out as expected. MH herself says she tries to avoid prediction, for obvious reasons. She mostly does, but, spookily, such occasional, and often whimsical, predictions as she does make, seem to have a remarkable accuracy rate.

Spoiler alert, which I should have put at the beginning: I thought this was quite good…

Sublime!

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The author's witty recounting of primarily British politics (also some about B. culture) had me rivetted from start to finish with many lol moments. Perfectly narrated, too. One of the better books I purchased.

Hilarious and insightful

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Wonderful writing. Funny, insightful, cathartic.

I read all these columns as they came out and have loved re-reading them. I’ve often asked the question: have you read the new Marina Hyde? And looked forward to reading them myself.

6/5 stars

If it were possible to give it 6 stars

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Roll up roll up tickets for the shitshow …but at least this ‘review’ of the recent performance is a joy to listen to as opposed to the players themselves…clever, funny writing in the face of such a tragedy, nice one Marina

Excellent stabby political commentary if only it would lead to their downfall !

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