The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole

Just got through The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999-2001 which basically is a cash in attempt after the (supposedly) final book in the series, Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction.

It is basically a published compilation of columns which was in UK's The Guardian paper years ago (known then as Diary of a Provincial Man), which I personally didn't know about until a couple of years ago, finding out about it on an Adrian Mole Facebook group. Read it myself after finding a soft copy on the Internet (someone had taken the time to compile the lot in one file), which supposedly fills in the gap between Cappuccino Years and Weapons of Mass Destruction.

"These diaries were lost when I moved from my modest council estate home back to my parents’ equally modest home in Ashby de la Zouch. After the events of Saturday, 24 November 2001, when I was dragged out of my bed at 4a.m. by an over-enthusiastic policeman citing David Blunkett’s anti-terrorism laws, I could no longer return home. My neighbours informed me that after I had been taken away to be questioned, people in white forensic suits took away every piece of paper in large sacks.

After my release I asked for my 1999-2001 diaries, but was told that the police were hanging on to them should any charges be brought against me, Mohammed and his brother, Imran. Then last week I answered the door of the renovated pigsty where I now live to find a policeman holding my diaries, which were inside a transparent plastic bag.

These diary entries have appeared in the Guardian previously, having been hi-jacked by a woman fraudster called Sue Townsend. She has made quite a lucrative living passing herself off as me. I know where she lives – I have been to her house and rung her doorbell but she refuses to come to the door. Once I saw her through the front window. She was a large shape sitting in the corner of a gloomy room swigging from what looked like a bottle of Stolichnaya. Her garden is overgrown and her house is in disrepair – she has obviously fallen on bad times. I can’t say I’m sorry. She has been a parasite on my literary career for too long."

The Lost Diaries is just for people like me who had no access to The Guardian articles back in the day or have not read them, much like the earlier compilations of the first three books. If you're already a fan you should check this out, but I would not recommend anyone reading this first.