Ayoade On Top Paperback – October 6, 2020

I deny having ever seen the wonderful dramedy A View from the Top even once, much less multiple times. Like, at least a dozen times. I did do some film study in college and I found reading film interpretation to be a bizarre experience: you're reading someone else's interpretation of what you saw. But Richard Ayoade, comedic actor, dramatic screenwriter, and therefore a true dramedist in his own right, put together a thorough, thoughtful, and eloquent analysis of this...umm...film? And this book is really an amazing experience: hilarious, clever, topical, and succinct. I even learned some stuff from reading it, there was something about Archimedes (spoiler alert) dying?A View from the Top is one of the guiltiest of guilty pleasure movies that I pretend I never saw, like Mariah Carey's Glitter. It's so terrible that it swings back around the spectrum and becomes great again, like Mariah Carey's Glitter. That someone took the time to write up a full interpretation of it is absurdly brilliant.If you HAVE seen the movie, I highly recommend this brilliant book. It's a quick read which mirrors the movie's runtime, and you will cackle out loud. Unlike A View From the Top, you will laugh where the writer actually intended for you to laugh. I have no idea what the reading experience would be like you haven't seen the movie, I assume it'd be amusingly confusing, but I do wonder if this book would make someone WANT to watch AVFTT. I confess, this book actually improved AVFTT for me, I now catch and savor every ounce of delicious awfulness that it serves up.I don't know if A View from the Top or those involved in its creation deserved this sort of treatment, either the honor or the mockery, but I'm so glad they got it. And I want more. I want The Ayoade Movie Channel where he's basically like Robert Osbourne discussing and screening movies that we have extremely mixed feelings about. And I'd gladly pay for it.

I discovered this guy on some British quiz shows. He's smart & funny. He's done everything (books, TV shows & a sitcom character (the IT crowd.) He's directed movies. He's travelled the world with comedians. I'm sure that I've forgotten some stuff. I couldn't wait to look at YouTube. Search Ayoade. Add "sweets" to the search. I'm addicted. Search him "descending into madness." He's smart so you don't get the usual toilet humor that seems prevalent in British comedians. In case you didn't notice, I'm in love.

Such a light read. Enjoyable and won't change your views on anything in life or the world. If it does, there is no support group for you; go straight to Goop. I'm sure he is singlehandedly responsible for the movie getting any views after his book was published. (Myself and 3 others only saw it b/c of his book.) I think only Ayoade fans would be getting this book; and if you are not already a fan - go look up some of his "work" (even he may question if it is 'work?').

Witty British humor at it’s best. Surprisingly insightful and laugh out loud funny. I’m extremely picky about the books I’ll keep. This one’s a keeper. 10/10

A View from the Top is one of my favorite movies because I enjoy a bad romcom, and I "discovered" it only a few years ago, and immediately loved it. The book is hilarious because it is so stupid and clever and Richard Ayoade's voice is clear throughout. It's not a very long book but it has a very extensive index at the end and just that is its own fun. I haven't read any other books by Ayoade (I'm just assuming this one's probably the silliest yet), and I haven't read any books about films before either, but this was so much fun. After finishing the book I ended up re-watching the movie "A View From the Top" with one of my best friends who I'd sent a bunch of excerpts of it to while I was reading it (we used to write friend fiction about each other and it felt like we'd written the book together in a parallel universe), and I gave my copy as an xmas present to another best friend who is, like me, a fan of the movie as well as the author. Making fun of anything with Richard Ayoade is a dream of mine, and the fact that he happened to write about one of my favorite movies made it even better.

I grew up thinking I was weird. Now I’ve just come to realize I’m basically Richard Ayoade. This is a weird book for weird people that’s kind of about a non-weird movie and kind of about a lot more, but also at the same time, nothing. I would give it eleven stars if not technologically limited by Jeffrey Bezos.

The concept is glorious (treating an appalling movie as if it was a work of art that lifts our awareness to better understand who we are and how we and others act). The result is a diatribe that uses cynicism and sarcasm to mock 'acting', "the US movie industry', self-platitudinal business games, and so on. My initial assessment of the product was that it was tedious and trivial. But, I felt morally obligated to continue, and I am glad that I did. Some passages are simply glorious. Ayoade's comic character gives the text its informed wit. That is then applied to form his sarcastic assessment of the movie in which Gwyneth Paltrow overcomes the burdens that life has added to her plate, and achieves her dreams (of becoming an airline steward). Ayoade indulges his idiosyncratic phraseology, often to great effect, sometimes just because it is what he is expected to do. What is deeply saddening is that the target of the book was a real movie, some real actors were paid to play in it, some movie moguls thought this is a worthy venture, some pundits actually went to see it. In the end, it is a light-weight romp well suited to those who find the US movie industry to be mostly vacant. It has a great index.

A very British book by a British author, very dry sense of humor, and yet quite funny. The book takes apart an incredibly dumb and also bad Gwyneth Paltrow movie- I know this describes most of her work. The movie is View From the Top. The book was quite entertaining as he weaves his own personal experiences and observations into the movie storyline

Listen up folks, if you like Richard Ayoade or maybe you don’t even know who the heck he is, this book is a hoot! I have literally laughed out loud (possible snort may have happened too). Disclaimer; if you don’t find this book funny it’s not my fault.

Gets into the movie in forensic and joking detail, always analyzing the scenes in a weird way. Would recommend 4/5

Made me laugh out loud while reading. Not just a little puff of air. I giggled.

Richard Ayoade is sharp as a tack and this book is an absolute triumph of sarcastic wit and searing intelligence. I was laughing from page 1, and laughed out loud so often that it was almost distracting. Even the index at the back is stupidly hilarious.I'm not a massive reader, but I rattled through this in 3 nights, which is testament to Ayoade's brilliance - genuinely, never has a book filled me with such giddy delight. There was even one comment in particular about Donna's bikini that made me laugh so uncontrollably and for so long that I think it may have permanently changed me as a person. This is all I ask of a book.Highly recommended - it is the funniest book I've ever read, and all Ayoade admirers should read it.

it's all so fake and and forced and barely funny. It's like a night with a bitter queen with not enough alcohol.