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Shop nowOdd Boy Out
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Learn moreBrought to you by Penguin.
The long-awaited autobiography from beloved star of Just a Minute, QI, Have I Got News For You and Celebrity Gogglebox.
There are few people Gyles Brandreth doesn't know or hasn't met - from the Queen to the Sex Pistols, Mandela and Marlene Dietrich to TS Eliot, he's the celebrities' celebrity, as familiar and welcome to us on radio and screens as biscuits are to a cup of tea.
Now a grandparent, looking back on his remarkable life, he traces his steps back to being a three-year-old tearing around 1950s London on his tricycle, to boarding school where he had an appendix removed simply to get out of football, to Bedales, where he met Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (and became intimate with a matron), to balancing his growing love of theatre with his love for educating, the 'woolly jumper years', the stint as an MP, the years of close friendship with the Queen, to becoming a septuagenarian Twitter star and stalwart fixture in British entertainment.
Throughout it all, there are lessons to be learned as Gyles derives wisdom and wit from his extraordinary encounters. Full of stories and full of heart, this is Gyles as you don't yet know him.
© Gyles Brandreth 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster and former MP and Government Whip. His many books include the bestselling poetry anthology, Dancing by the Light of the Moon, and the international bestseller about spelling and punctuation, Have You Eaten Grandma? With Susie Dent, the lexicographer from Countdown, he co-hosts the award-winning podcast, Something Rhymes with Purple. Gyles presents Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4 with Dame Sheila Hancock and regularly appears on Celebrity Gogglebox with Dame Maureen Lipman.
Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster and former MP and Government Whip. His many books include the bestselling poetry anthology, Dancing by the Light of the Moon, and the international bestseller about spelling and punctuation, Have You Eaten Grandma? With Susie Dent, the lexicographer from Countdown, he co-hosts the award-winning podcast, Something Rhymes with Purple. Gyles presents Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4 with Dame Sheila Hancock and regularly appears on Celebrity Gogglebox with Dame Maureen Lipman.
Reviews
Hilarious, ribald, eye-popping, unforgettable, will make you laugh out loud A whirlwind of witticisms and of funny tales, both short and tall . . . 'I feel I have lived my life in a magic garden where the sun is always shining' he writes, and in Odd Boy Out he offers us yet another glimpse of that bright, shining sunWarm, witty, charming. A moving and very affectionate family history. An enthusiast for life
A fabulous raconteur with a great many tricks up his sleeve. His infectious zest for life means he has a story for almost every well-known person you can think of A magnificent raconteur. A witty account of a most unusual life Brilliant pen portraits of his father and myriad friends present a framework for Gyles's contemplation of his extraordinary life. Light-hearted and dark events alike are described with his customary deceptively jaunty style, making them funny, moving, and sometimes deeply shocking Staggeringly brilliant, funny and touching, I loved it A hilarious and revealing account of growing up and coming of age in an apparently well-to-do but always strapped-for-cash middle-class English family Brandreth has been an expert cheerer-upper for more than 60 years . . . Ebullient. Full of fun, famous names and sparkling facts He's cheery, fun and has a fabulous grasp of the English language, so Gyles Brandreth's autobiography makes for a scintillating read. His hilarious - and sometimes moving - account of his life from early childhood days through to the adult world of politics and television is candid. It is also a story around his everyday family life, and about happiness, ambition and love. It offers a fascinating insight into a portrait of Britain, too Hugely enjoyable. Engaging Full of fascination . . . Tantalising. Alongside his celebrity stories, his delightfully observed domestic portraits bring to life whole lost worlds Fascinating Expand reviews