Reviews

In “The Twat Files” Dawn French shares the many times she has made mistakes over the years and, in her words, been a “complete twat”. When she realises being perfect is impossible she decides to go for being a twat instead and encourages the reader to own up to their mistakes and realise that everyone makes them and it’s not that big of a deal.

“The Twat Files” is due to be published by Michael Joseph Books on 12 October 2023 and I was very privileged to receive an advanced copy in exchange for this honest review.

When I was contacted by Michael Joseph about this book I was very quick to send back a very excited yes please and to be honest, I thought that may be the end of it as I don’t have a huge following on my social media account or here on the blog so I was incredibly happy when I received this copy in the post along with my very own number 1 twat ribbon! Wearing it made me feel like a politician!

I love Dawn French, her humour is very much my kind of humour and she seems like an all round lovely person and I think part of what makes her that way is she’s not afraid of being a twat. More importantly, she’s not afraid of admitting she’s been a twat.

This book is chock full of funny stories of things that Dawn has done that make her a twat but the most important part of the whole thing for me is right near the end when she talks about how the language of apologising has become so fake and diluted in recent years. I found myself nodding in agreement as I’ve lost count of the number of times in just the last month alone that I’ve shouted at my tv at somebody or other uttering a complete non-apology! Nobody ever wants to admit they’ve made a mistake and give an actual sincere apology for it but at the end of the day, we’re all human, we all make mistakes but for some reason we seem to be living in a world where instead of holding up their hands, admitting their mistake and apologising people issue these absolute non-apologies where they twist the words and make excuses and somehow end up making it not their fault. The one that really angers me the most is “I’m sorry you feel that way”! Honestly, the red mist descends and it sends me into a blind rage. Why on earth is someone apologising for my feelings instead of their behaviour that caused my feelings?!

Anyway, I digress, the reason I think this last section is so important is Dawn uses it to turn what could have just been a book full of funny anecdotes into something more. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a book full of funny anecdotes but by having this section about the importance of letting yourself off the hook for making a mistake and ensuring that when you do you apologise properly for it, she’s hopefully helping people out there who are maybe struggling with this concept and feeling like making a mistake is the absolute end of the world.

One of the funniest sections for me is when she talks about times she’s ended up laughing so much she wees her pants. Honestly, it sounds bad but from living with my Mum, who has had two kids and clearly doesn’t have the strongest pelvic floor anymore it put me very much in mind of her!

I know there’s been a lot in the media lately about celebrity books and ghost writers but I honestly could hear Dawn’s voice as I was reading this book so I don’t know that that’s really an issue on this one.

The pages aren’t massively condensed with text so it’s a very quick and very funny read. Perfect for a Christmas gift for people of all age really but I do think “women of a certain age” will relate to it a lot and my Mum is definitely going to be finding a copy under her tree this year.

No complaints at all. Absolutely outstanding.

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