Book: Alan Coren's Sunday Best

Overview
Alan Coren's Sunday Best gathers a year's worth of the author's weekly columns from The Sunday Express, presenting a parade of short, self-contained pieces that range from passing observations to pointed social jibes. Each column functions as a tiny sketch: a single domestic episode, a linguistic quip, a memory rekindled, or a satirical ray aimed at the absurdities of contemporary Britain. The collection reads like a weekend companion , witty, quick, and often disarmingly affectionate.
The arrangement preserves the original cadence of the column form. Entries are compact and varied in length, designed to be read between chores or over a late breakfast. Together they form a mosaic of late-1980s Britain seen through Coren's unmistakable comedic lens.

Subject Matter and Themes
Subjects shift constantly but return to familiar anchors: family life and marriage, encounters with eccentric characters, the rituals of English leisure, and the small cruelties of modern convenience. Coren delights in capturing the gap between genteel expectations and everyday reality, whether that gap appears at the breakfast table, in a sports pavilion, or on a television set. Many pieces have a nostalgic core, gently pitting the comforts of the past against the pretensions of the present.
Beneath the laughter is a steady interest in language and manners. Coren often treats words as misbehaving characters whose misuse reveals larger social foibles. Class and cultural change surface frequently, but usually as a foil for character sketches rather than as frontal polemics. The humour tends toward the civilized and corrective rather than the viciously polemical.

Style and Technique
Economy and precision are the book's hallmarks. Sentences are carefully wrought, with punchlines engineered through controlled digressions and sudden reversals. Coren's ear for the cadences of spoken English and his facility with understatement are evident throughout; a seemingly offhand remark often contains a deeper, sharper observation. Repetition and callback are used sparingly but effectively, turning small details into running jokes that reward attentive readers.
Imagery is plain but pointed, relying on domestic detail rather than extravagant metaphor. Character portraits are sketched with a few deft strokes, and dialogue , whether recounted or imagined , crackles with a lived-in authenticity. The result is humour that feels spontaneous yet crafted, as though casual anecdotes have been polished until their comic core gleams.

Tone and Audience
The overall tone is urbane and slightly mischievous. Coren writes as a companionable curmudgeon: amused, amusedly outraged, and fundamentally humane. His mock indignation is aimed not at people but at particular manners and pretensions, so the voice tends to charm rather than alienate readers who share a taste for literate, observational humour.
The book will appeal to readers who enjoy polished short-form comedy that rewards attentive reading. Those who favour gentle satire, linguistic playfulness, and character-driven vignettes will find much to relish. Occasional readers seeking sharper political invective may find the focus more domestic and anecdotal than hard-hitting.

Legacy and Value
As a period piece, the collection provides an entertaining snapshot of a particular cultural moment while also showcasing Coren's enduring gifts as a comic essayist. Columns that once appeared on a Sunday newspaper page translate well into book form, their brevity and wit lending the collection a breezy, readable quality. For fans of English humour and anyone studying the art of the short column, the book offers both pleasure and instruction: an exemplar of how observation, language, and timing combine to produce consistently satisfying comedy.