Un-Cook Yourself: A Ratbag's Rules for Life

Product Information

This entry was posted in Articles and tagged 2020, Bargain, Best Value, Book, December, Gift, Nat's What I Reckon, Secret Santa, UK, Un-cook Yourself : A Ratbag's Rules for Life, Xmas by Alex. Goddamn, the situations I wouldn't have had to endure if I'd just told a few people to fuck off in my life. Death to Jar Sauce will see you through the good times and the tough times, hopefully with a few solid laughs and some awesome food on your plate.

You get to take a glimpse inside the head of a personality, if you like the personality, you'll like this book. I have also mentioned that Audible kind of takes issue with this rather strongly, and insists on throwing suggestions my way. But it's very much in Nat's voice and when I was listening to the audio book, there was something about him addressing me directly as "champion" that got me right in the feels. It's also written in his signature style - 'fucken' rather than 'fucking', 'ya' rather than 'your' - which got a little old by the end.Nat has zero qualifications as a philosopher or life coach, and he doesn't feel like becoming one anytime soon. It does wander a little bit, and because it is this mix of memoir, cookbook, graphics, self help, a structural edit could have helped form it up a is all. Part cookbook, part autobiography, part social commentary, part mental health advocacy, part career advice - it just kinda makes no sense, but it’s also absolutely perfect. Also his partner Jules appears in the book and her honesty with her experiences of having a partner with anxiety felt so real and genuine. As someone who has dealt with and is currently dealing with both physical and mental health issues, Nat has received a shitload of vacuous advice and is in his element skewering them all.

As a self-help book - I have no doubt if you were a teenage boy, you would find his writings a way of finding your own path. The underlying messages of being kind to yourself and others, looking after your mental health and embracing your individuality make this a worthwhile read. This foul mouthed, larrikin Aussie helped lift my spirits time and again during the darker days of Melbourne’s endless lockdowns, constantly delivering some of the most genuine and hilarious content on socials that I’ve ever followed.

There was a great (albeit long-winded) section encouraging the low budget weekend getaway just to get out of town and see somewhere new. And he will make you laugh as he destroys these thoughtless, uncompassionate "solutions" bandied about like the phony, marketing slogans that they are. He's been through some shit and he has so many endearing qualities that make you think so highly of this guy. My only gripe personally is that I found myself beginning to lose interest in the sayings themselves and wanting him to just continue the trajectories of subjects he was talking about rather than bullet pointing them with new topics, but I think this is a testament to the entertainment value and grip of Nat's ranting, story-telling and hypotheticals.