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Sunburn
- The Unofficial History of the Sun Newspaper in 99 Headlines
- Narrated by: Alexei Sayle
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: History, Europe
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Summary
This book is for you if you dislike The Sun but have never actually read it to know why.
Using his famed on-the-nose commentary, Twitter legend James Felton has dissected 99 of the most outlandish stories The Sun (for a long time the biggest-selling British newspaper) has run since it became a tabloid in 1969, hoping to answer once and for all whether the press has reflected - or manipulated - the British people over the last 50 years.
Included: joke-riddled analyses of The Sun's most infamous stories about celebrities, war, royals, crime, the LGBTQ+ community, migrants, the EU, politics, bacon sandwiches and page three.
Critic reviews
"An astonishing piece of work." (James O'Brien)
"This book was a delight. Funny, scathing and witty." (Ian Dunt)
"James Felton makes me laugh like a bellend." (Robert Webb)
What listeners say about Sunburn
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Andrew Parker
- 25-10-20
Better than using Audible credits to buy crack
I was going to use my spare Audible credits to buy crack and prostitutes. However, it turns out Ben Bradley MP was wrong and you can in fact only use them to buy audio books. So I bought this. I wasn't disappointed.
38 people found this helpful
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- ryanthemonk
- 11-11-20
Hilarious
Incredible narration and genuine laugh out loud moments. Makes you want to bury your head deep in the sand until The Sun doesn't exist any more.
8 people found this helpful
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- Adrianics
- 28-01-21
Dragged Down by Forced Humour
The Sun's enormous influence on British society and political nexus is a very worthy topic that needs and deserves thorough analysis.
James Felton is somewhat of a Twitter star, and this frequently bleeds through in his writing style. He frequently relies on John Oliver-esque extended metaphors (Richard Littlejohn is "a racist constructed by Aardman", Ann Widdecombe is "a possessed shoe"), and while these can be fitfully amusing you do find yourself occasionally groaning when you hear the words "it's a bit like" and wishing he'd just get on with it.
When the book hits, it hits hard. The Sun's impact on those it targets is laid out extremely well.
7 people found this helpful
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- BGall80
- 16-11-20
Astounding
It astounds me what the S*n had got away with over its half century.
Well done James for taking them on, and great to choose Alexei Sayle to narrate.
5 people found this helpful
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- Emum
- 16-01-21
Sunburn
Great book
Inspired choice in Alexei Sayle as the reader
Manages to be very funny with deeply depressing material.
Highly recommended
4 people found this helpful
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- Carl England
- 07-11-20
Fantastic/Horrible
Well written and researched and amazingly performed, this look at what could be the world's worst newspaper is perfect.
4 people found this helpful
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- Liam_H
- 14-01-21
A righteous rant
A trawl through 99 of the Sun's "classic" headlines. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, Transphobia, classism the gangs all here! Brilliantly read by Alexei Sayle
3 people found this helpful
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- mine all mine
- 20-03-21
The scum of the world
Great book. Laugh out loud funny in parts anger inducing in others. Really enjoyed this book
2 people found this helpful
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- R Warren
- 24-02-21
I wonder if the Sun 'journalists' will read this?
Loved it. Laughed and swore in equal measure.
How James managed to read every issue of the Sun in six months is beyond me.
Murdoch and his gang really are a bunch of total basta
2 people found this helpful
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- andy beagle
- 17-12-20
a great collaboration!
an absolutely superb takedown of the despicable sun newspaper, which I'm sure would be very enlightening to readers of said rag! read by the incredibly talented Alexei sayle, this is my first book by James, it will not be my last! (oh & follow him on Twitter too, if you have a mind to. brilliant.
2 people found this helpful
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- bkwdwriter
- 22-10-20
Can’t. Stop. Laughing.
I’ll be honest: I went into this completely unaware of The Sun, as I’m a Midwesterner. But between Alexei Sayle and James Felton’s twitter, I was 100% on board. And they did not disappoint. James’s humor paired with Alexei’s narration was like a perfect distribution of toppings on a plate of nachos. I might not have known a lot of the people mentioned in some of the stories, but James provided enough information and explanation (and ridiculously funny observations) to keep me interested. My only critique is that it had to end. I’ll definitely be giving it another listen.