Ill Die After Bingo, Pope Lonergan
Ill Die After Bingo, Pope Lonergan
List: $14.62 | Sale: $10.23
Club: $7.31

I'll Die After Bingo
My unlikely life as a care home assistant

Author: Pope Lonergan

Narrator: Pope Lonergan

Unabridged: 8 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ebury Digital

Published: 06/16/2022

Synopsis

Brought to you by Penguin.

Resident: I feel I want to keep talking.
Me: Of course! What do you want to talk about?
Resident: My heart.
Me: What about your heart?
Resident: I feel I want to touch it.
Me: Your heart? You want to touch your heart?
Resident: Yes, but I'm too frightened.
Me: What are you frightened about?
Resident: Everything. People. Things.
Me: What's frightening you at this very moment?
Resident: (Closes eyes). That I'll never be touched again. That I won't be able to get to my heart.
Me: Metaphorically?
Resident: More carrots please.

Whether he's initiating a coup d'état against new regulations with the residents, or forging a bond with the 98-year old who once called him a fat slut, Pope Lonergan's work is infinitely varied. This no-holds-barred account shows what life inside a care home is really like, for both residents and carers. Featuring night-time drama, incontinence pads and the uniquely dark humour of one double-amputee Alzheimer's patient, here you can learn everything you ever wanted to know (and a few things you probably really didn't) about Britain's care system.

This important memoir challenges us all to think differently about the value of our elderly, and also the carers who look after them.

'From fearless and funny to heart-stoppingly raw' Evening Standard

© Pope Lonergan 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ruth on July 03, 2022

Pope presents an intelligent account of the fundamental caring profession, unexpurgated bodily fluids and scattered minds. I listened on audio and appreciated the author's authentic voice, experience, and humour. We need to stop seeing caring as a low skilled occupation and adequately staff homes. H......more

Goodreads review by Mrs P Earle on March 26, 2023

I expected this to be more anecdotal and instead it felt like I was reading a text book with all the references. There was an overuse of words I'd never come across before. However the author does accurately depict the monotonous and thankless task of being a carer in a care home.......more

Goodreads review by Vivi on November 16, 2023

Unlike the other reviews I actually really liked the memoire style and glad he didn't shy from including his opinions and politics. I was also really happy to find references of feminism, critics of capitalism and I would say socialism but not sure how the author identifies. I'd certainly take book......more

Goodreads review by Dave on July 04, 2023

Not as good as I thought it might be. Only occasionally funny, and most of the humour was in the footnotes, (and I'm not a fan of footnotes). The author clearly knows a lot of wonderful words that require a thesaurus to decipher. Unfortunately these too often detract from any prolonged enjoyment of......more

Goodreads review by Donna on June 28, 2022

Having visited a range of hospitals, respite care places and care homes in recent years for my dad, plus having had my own amusing catheter experiences in hospital stays of my own, I'm kind of inured to the various icky bodily topics involved when people are not capable of caring for themselves. I'm......more

Quotes

Funny and moving... deeply affecting Daily Express

Blackly funny... enough to make you die laughing Daily Mail

Five out of five stars. This book does for care home workers what This Is Going to Hurt did for junior doctors... this isn't just a conscience-rebooting book. It's also blisteringly well written, deeply humane and very funny Daily Telegraph

Pope Lonergan is always very funny even when dealing with the most serious subject matter

Pope is such a kind, funny and erudite guide through a world many of us ignore. I hope people read the book. It can't possibly be what they think. It is exceptional Andrew Hankinson

Darkly comic, crushingly funny and impossibly uplifting. It makes you want to call every elder in your life and hold on to a piece of them while you still can. A triumph Desiree Burch

Pope is a hilarious and naughty guide through one of the most pressing political issues: social care. This book is a perfect blend of playful, provocative and powerful. So irreverent and honest and not twee or sugar-coated Josie Long

Brutal, pitch-black comedy... Lonergan is a powerful advocate for why care work is important and why we need an honest national conversation about the realities of human deterioration and death Independent

Pope is such a kind, funny and erudite guide through a world many of us ignore. I hope people read the book. It can't possibly be what they think. It is exceptional.

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List