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Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About : A Novel

Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About : A Novel

List Price: $12.95
Your Price: $9.71
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply fantastic
Review: It can't be a good thing when your boss tracks you down to ask what you know about extradition treaties. But Pel Dalton, Supervisor of the Computer Team in a university library--er, Learning Center--is too busy mowing down children at the time to think much of it:

"I jerk myself above the barricade and let rip with laser death at some attackers. One dives behind a box in panic like some kind of silly eight-year-old (admittedly he does look about eight years old) but I catch his companion (who's eleven if he's a day) on the shoulder and take him down."

Tapped to fill his abruptly resigned boss's shoes, Pel finds it harder than usual to feign competence. (He has about as firm a hold on his new responsibilities as Seinfeld's George Costanza did when called upon to handle the Penske file.) Yet Pel might yet keep things under control at work--the requisite meetings with Chinese mafiosi, the disappeared colleagues, the nerve gas and would-be poltergeists--were his home life not so chaotic. Pel lives with his German girlfriend Ursula and their two sons, and virtually every waking moment in their household is filled with the happy couple's bickering. Over every topic imaginable. Happily, their arguing does not arise from a deep-seated problem in their relationship: that would make it difficult reading. Petty arguments are simply their preferred mode of communication, and they do it marvelously.

"Did you hear that?"
"No."
"I'm sure I heard the door bang."
"It was probably just a dog somewhere."
"Yes, because--at night--a dog barking is almost indistinguishable from the sound of a door being smashed open, isn't it? Idiot."
"I didn't say a dog _barking_..."

Mil Millington--who, as it happens, lives with his German girlfriend Margret and their two children and who is apparently found wanting by Margret at least as often as Pel disappoints Ursula--is a writer worth watching. Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About is a hilarious, clever read about which I couldn't possibly say enough good things. Just do yourself a favor and buy it--buy it now, I mean--and read it, then get a few copies for your friends. It's really that good.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wait, Wait Must Stop Laughing
Review: Ok, for you that have read his website, it's a must have. But those of you that haven't don't worry it is still hiliarious. My mom and sister who had never even heard of Mil/Pel, I would read excerpts and they would be laughing so hard they would start crying.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do NOT read this book!
Review: Once in awhile a comic writer comes along with something so unique and fresh, that you wonder how he puts things together the way he does. This is brilliant material about ongoing frustrations with a real but fictionally personified girlfriend, an offshoot of a website of this name by this author. You can't put the book down, and you can't stop reading the webpages. You will waste a very great deal of your time, and may get canned if you are at work. The website has almost 3.5 million hits. The average visit is 4 hours. Do the math.

That's a lot of wasted productivity. Must be a reason for it, huh?

Oh yes... if you are a loyal, patriotic American, you may not like the referrences to the US from this British authors viewpoint.. but as your nieghbor and friend up here in Canada, I can tell you he is bang on. (Spot on for you Brits!) And he says disparaging things about Canada too... which are just as true. After all, Britian is the center of the universe to Brits.. and he pokes fun at that too. Nothing is off limits. He is just a riot!

Highly recommended... that you avoid this book! Your work and marriage will suffer.



Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The funniest book I've read in a looooong time!
Review: Over the last couple of weeks I've read this book on my train ride home from work and I've received quite a lot of looks as I can't help myself from laughing out loud over and over at this book. Mil (or Pel in the story) has a great way with words and so not only shares funny stories with us but does so in a very unique and beautifully verbose way. I will be re-reading this book many times.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You'll laugh, giggle, or at least smile while reading...
Review: Pel Dalton and his German girlfriend, Ursula, live in northeast England with their two sons. Pel works at the local university library, first as the head of an IT team (he's quite clueless about computers) and after his boss leaves, moves up the employment ladder, therefore having to hide his complete confusion about his new jobs from more people. While he's dealing with problems at work such as how to deal with Chinese gang members, his home life is often in chaos as well. After their house is broken into for the umpteenth time, Ursula demands that they must move. Unfortunately, her lack of what Pel would label "proper social skills" means everyone they come in contact with is usually unwilling to work long with them. While we follow these two main storylines, Pel and Ursula's bickering about everything from defrosting the refrigerator to a lost broom provides the reader with constant amusement from, and amazement at, their relationship.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: absolutely hysterical
Review: The plot of this book is farcical in the extreme, so suspend your disbelief as Pel crashes from one ludicrous situation to another. There's a bit of satire about councils, graft, and unburied bodies that could have been much more pointed. The ending is abrupt. Some bits (the discovery about Colin Rawbone) didn't need to be included , and a very few don't go anywhere (the inlaws, the electroshock machine). But the core of this book is the never-ending series of arguments between Pel and Ursula, and they are stomach-churningly funny. You will laugh yourself sick. The movie should be at least as funny... there's even a chase scene written into the book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: SMART AND WITTY HUMOR
Review: THINGS MY GIRLFRIEND AND I HAVE ARGUED ABOUT is a comical and very funny glance at the relationship of Pel and Ursula in northeast England. This book follows the adventures of Pel at work and at home as he struggles from one disaster to the next. He manages to get himself into some very funny situations that made me laugh out loud many times. Pel's insights are fantastic and I couldn't help but cheering for him to come out victorious. There were so many passages that delighted me it's difficult to pick a favorite but if I had to choose I would rate Ursula's incident with the roof repair men at the end and Pel getting himself stuck trying to climb out of the bathroom window at the top. To tell the truth I was unsure whether I would enjoy this book when I first picked it up but now I am so glad that I gave it a chance. Why did I hesitate? Don't hesitate with THINGS MY GIRLFRIEND AND I ARGUE ABOUT, as this is one of the funniest books I have read. I am now a new fan of Mil Millington.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: We Want More Margret!
Review: Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About is based on the relationship between Mil Millington and his girlfriend Margret, which he for some time has chronicled in the website of the same name (just add .com); for the novel, the characters' names have been changed to Pel and Ursula, and an implausible plot has been added regarding Pel's job at a local university. As a matter of pride, Millington did not include any of the girlfriend anecdotes already on his website. Even though the Margret/Ursula passages seemingly are just the website rejects, they shine throughout; the novel sparkles brightly on every page graced with her presence. It's unfortunate, therefore, that there isn't more of her. Pel's improbable promotions and university scandals just don't have the same impact, and none of the other characters, including Pel, are a tenth as interesting as the author's real-life girlfriend (who, if the website and novel paint an accurate picture, is best admired from a judicious distance). I read the Ursula passages aloud to my wife, who laughed every minute.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: extremely funny book....
Review: This is a must-have for those who are fans of millington's website "Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About" (http:/[...]). Indeed, it is not a copy of what is there on his webpage.

A word of caution for those who are unfamiliar with the author. I think it would be better to read millington's 'Things' website before reading this book in order to get familiar with Margret(Ursula) and Mil (Pel). This will really help the reader to appreciate the situations portrayed in the book and to understand the characters' behavior.

I don't think it is necessary to say that the book is extremely funny and very original. I should say, however, that millington is a clever and witty writer. I disagree with the reviewer who didn't like the end of the book. I think the end is very appropriate and, indeed, very satisfying.

If you are unsure about buying this book, check out his webpage first and see whether you like the style and humor.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hysterical from start to finish
Review: This is a very, very funny book. One of the few books I have read that made me laugh out loud over and over. Seems like a few reviewers are taking the story a bit too seriously saying that the girlfriend in question comes across as "too mean." It is true the only interactions Millington writes of between Ursula and the main charachter Pel are their wild, over-the-top, ridiculous arguments. It makes for a funny, unique story. I do not think anyone who reads this book fails to understand that Pel's perspective might be just a little biased towards his own best interest! This book is worth owning; you will want all your friends to read it too so you can laugh together remembering the funniest bits.


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