Can’t Be Arsed (Half Arsed Shorter Edition) is a list of 63 things to NOT do before you die. A play off of the bucket lists and “X amount of things to do before you die”, this book is the opposite with a list of 63 popular items from peoples lists and comical (and sometimes logical) reasons why you shouldn’t want to do them and shouldn’t add them to your bucket list. Although humorous, there are still a few items in the book I couldn’t be swayed on and are still on my bucket list. There were also a few items in the book that I had already done – so I guess you can’t change my mind on those items either!
Certainly a quick and amusing read and a cute idea. But I’m still keeping my bucket list.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
We are forever being ordered around – 100 things to do before you’re 30; 50 albums you must own; change your life in two weeks. Why – is this an increasingly desperate search for happiness? Perhaps you can in fact attain happiness not by going anywhere or doing anything but instead by actually reducing your ambitions. This is the philosophy behind ’63 Things Not To Do Before You Die’. Each chapter begins with a diatribe, followed by a detailed look at the alternative side of the most frequently cited must do’s, giving off-putting facts and statistics to quote at holier-than-thou thrillseekers. Wish-fulfillment lists take heed… About the Author Richard Wilson is head of comedy for Hat Trick Productions and executive producer of Have I Got News For You. He has also previously worked on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Room 101. His first book for Portico, Can’t Be Arsed: 101 Things Not To Do Before You Die was published in 2008.