This is a barnstormer of a book that had politically correct types
turning purple with rage when it came out in hardback. But readers
loved every trenchant word and the book produced one of the
greatest-ever 'bravo' postbags for both author and publisher. The
reason is that Fraser dares to write what millions scarcely dare
even to think. He sounds off about political correctness in all its
forms, calls for a return to the values of 50 years ago and accuses
successive governments of turning Britain into a Third World
country where corruption, incompetence and selfishness rule OK. If
all that sounds a touch over the top, even for a self-confessed
'dinosaur', then get ready for some surprises. Fraser has hardly
warmed up yet. This is no rant from an antediluvian reactionary,
however. Fraser's grouchy comments are spiced with humour and for
much of the time they are autobiographical, telling of his
experiences as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. The humour
in his 'Flashman' novels keeps peeping through in what might be
called the book's second part - anecdotes about some of the great
film actors and directors with whom Fraser has worked. They include
Steve McQueen, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cubby Broccoli. It would
have been easy to separate the book into two distinct segments but
Fraser has interwoven them. Every 'Shooting Script' chapter is
followed by one headed 'Angry Old Man' in which he calls for the
reintroduction of hanging and corporal punishment, a block on
asylum-seekers, a return to traditional forms of education and an
end to 'positive discrimination' in race matters - you know the
sort of thing. Whether his views are shared by the stars of stage
and screen is not made clear, although we do learn that Steve
McQueen had a lifelong desire to ride the Isle of Man TT course and
that Burt Lancaster admires the British armed forces - especially
the commandos. What delighted Burt most of all during his own army
service was the commandos' insistence on breaking off from war to
take afternoon tea. The book is packed with stories such as this.
And despite the 'grumpy old man' image which he cultivates so
assiduously, Fraser emerges as a modest and quite decent chap
really when he isn't in Meldrew mode. (Kirkus UK)
In between writing Flashman novels, George MacDonald Fraser spent thirty years as an 'incurably star-struck' screenwriter, working with the liked of Steve McQueen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cubby Broccoli, Burt Lancaster, Frederico Fellini and Oliver Reed. Now he shares his recollections of those encounters, providing a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes.
Far from starry-eyed where Tony Blair &Co are concerned, he looks back also to the Britain of his youth and castigates those responsible for its decline to 'a Third World Country…misruled by a typical Third World government, corrupt, incompetent and undemocratic'.
Controversial, witty and revealing – or 'curmudgeonly', 'reactionary', 'undiluted spleen', according to the critics – 'The Light's on at Signpost' has struck a chord with a great section of the public. Perhaps, as one reader suggests, it should be 'hidden beneath the floorboards, before the Politically Correct Thought Police come hammering at the door, demanding to confiscate any copies'.
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