The day the John Lewis Christmas ad is released seems like a good time to let you know there is an updated version of Perpetual Disappointments Diary in shops now. It’s not in John Lewis as far as we know, although it is in Sainsbury’s.
For the uninitiated, Perpetual Disappointments Diary is the journal / diary / life planner for people who wish they weren’t in the target market but stoically recognise that they are. It is also the answer to the perennial Christmas question: what do you get the person who has nothing?
The most significant addition in this version is On This Day — reminders of key events from history including the invention of aspirin, the discovery of anti-matter, the development of the SOS distress signal, and the launch of LinkedIn.
There are also some new demotivational proverbs among the most depressing of the old.
And there are some extra notes spreads.
All this, plus perennial favourites like Useful Travel Phrases, Bank Insecurity Questions and Personal SWOT Analysis.
We were surprised to walk into Sainsbury’s recently and see the diary on sale alongside Fearne Cotton’s Happy Journal — an extreme experiment in shopper profiling. (Which will be skewed by the fact that ours is going very cheap.) But it’s exciting to see the diary getting out into the world and in front of more people.
For American readers, there is a version of the diary out with Chronicle Books, which is beautifully produced in a way that somehow makes the contents more disheartening.
Thanks to everyone who has grudgingly supported the diary on its journey from sad little self-initiated project to depressing mass market product.
Please buy the diary in your local independent shop, Blackwell's, Amazon, Hive, Waterstones etc. Or Sainsbury’s.