The Diary of a Nobody the first, "The Diary of a Somebody", is a direct reference to the Grossmith original. Reviewing this volume in "The Spectator", Benny Green points out several parallels with the original, in both character and event. Matthew's book, says Green, is amusing, but the Grossmiths' book is superior; it is "affecting as well as comical, in a way that the Matthew pastiche is not". In 1982 came the first appearance of Sue Townsend's teenage creation, Adrian Mole, whose passage into young manhood and early middle age is charted in a long series of diaries. The more middle-aged he becomes, says Morton,
Secret Diary of a Call Girl who's really good at her job would talk to a client." It was less well received, however, by "The New York Times", which said, ""Secret Diary" has amusing touches, but not enough to sustain an entire series." Whilst reviewing Series 3 of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl", Gerard O'Donovan of "The Telegraph" opined that the show focuses too much on Piper's character, saying "All the characters, apart from Belle (Piper), are about as two-dimensional as cardboard cut-outs – and no more engaging." The series was attacked by some feminists, as Belle sells her body and some stated that it