An Education
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Review
[Barber s] a suburban girl who s frightened that she s goingto get cut out of everything good that happens in the city.That, to me, is a big story in popular culture. It s the storyof pretty much every rock n roll band.--Nick Hornby, author of the screenplay adaptation of An Education
Product Description
Lynn Barber's true story, now a major film of the same name scripted by Nick Hornby.
At 16, Lynn Barber was an ambitious schoolgirl working towards a place at Oxford, when she was picked up at a bus-stop by an attractive older man in a sports car. So began a relationship that almost wrecked her life.
Barber's fascinating memoir takes us beyond this bizarre episode, revealing how it left her with an abiding mistrust of men which paradoxically led her to a promiscuous life-style at university until she met her husband-to-be. An Education tells how she went on to work for seven years at daring (for the times) men's magazine Penthouse before beginning her starry days as the Demon Barber - Britain's most entertaining and most feared interviewer. The book ends with an extraordinarily moving account of the early death of her husband. Her writing is refreshingly frank and funny.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a book that should come with a couple of warnings.
Firstly, be aware that the story that inspired the recent film An Education [DVD] [2009] only takes up one short chapter. Nick Hornby, Oscar-nominated for the screenplay, padded this one episode out hugely and made a lot of it up. So if you enjoyed the film, you won't necessarily enjoy this memoir of Lynn Barber's life as a journalist.
And secondly, if you're a struggling writer trying to find work in today's cutthtroat media world, don't read this hoping to be inspired, or to pick up a few helpful tips. Because all the stories of how she blithely sailed into a series of highly enviable jobs during yet another liquid lunch at the Groucho Club, or via an old Etonian chum of her husband, or after a chance phone call from a friend of a friend of someone she was at Oxford with, won't do anything other than make you feel angry, or hopelessly defeatist, and possibly both.
She's been very lucky and had a great career writing for and about other people, but this hasn't necessarily made her own story particularly interesting. There are some mildly amusing anecdotes about her time at Penthouse magazine and on Fleet Street, and there's some minor name dropping, but it's hardly fascinating, and it's all stuff that dates very fast.
All credit to her for being brutally honest about her selfishness and impatience - she despised her parents, she begrudged the time she spent bringing up her daughters, and she is mercilessly detached about her husband's death - but it makes her very hard to like, or even understand. If you're writing about people and events that aren't of much interest outside your own circle, I think you have to inject a bit more heart and humour into your story than this. Otherwise, why should I care?
Luckily, it only takes a couple of hours to read this book - that's about as long as I wanted to stay with Lynn Barber.
Firstly, be aware that the story that inspired the recent film An Education [DVD] [2009] only takes up one short chapter. Nick Hornby, Oscar-nominated for the screenplay, padded this one episode out hugely and made a lot of it up. So if you enjoyed the film, you won't necessarily enjoy this memoir of Lynn Barber's life as a journalist.
And secondly, if you're a struggling writer trying to find work in today's cutthtroat media world, don't read this hoping to be inspired, or to pick up a few helpful tips. Because all the stories of how she blithely sailed into a series of highly enviable jobs during yet another liquid lunch at the Groucho Club, or via an old Etonian chum of her husband, or after a chance phone call from a friend of a friend of someone she was at Oxford with, won't do anything other than make you feel angry, or hopelessly defeatist, and possibly both.
She's been very lucky and had a great career writing for and about other people, but this hasn't necessarily made her own story particularly interesting. There are some mildly amusing anecdotes about her time at Penthouse magazine and on Fleet Street, and there's some minor name dropping, but it's hardly fascinating, and it's all stuff that dates very fast.
All credit to her for being brutally honest about her selfishness and impatience - she despised her parents, she begrudged the time she spent bringing up her daughters, and she is mercilessly detached about her husband's death - but it makes her very hard to like, or even understand. If you're writing about people and events that aren't of much interest outside your own circle, I think you have to inject a bit more heart and humour into your story than this. Otherwise, why should I care?
Luckily, it only takes a couple of hours to read this book - that's about as long as I wanted to stay with Lynn Barber.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have yet to see the film of this book, which is supposed to be wonderful. When I saw the book I was determined to read it, and really could not put it down. It is only a short volume, and I believe only a fragment of the book makes up the subject matter of the film, but it is nevertheless compelling at every turn. I finished it within twenty four hours of picking it up. Barber writes about her life with clarity, a refreshing lack of vanity and humour. I particularly loved the sections of the book about her work at Penthouse and found the last section, dealing with the illness and death of her husband profoundly moving. Barber is articulate, thoughtful and incisive. Her life has been interesting and is more than worthy of a volume four times the size of this one. I hope, one day, she writes more.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having seen the film, and having read other reviews, I was expecting a lot from this book, but it didnt deliver.
The whole thing seemed very superficial, I didnt find Lynne Barber a sympathetic person, and became very angry at the way everything was told totally from her perspective, with no thought about the feelings of other people, especially her parents, who seemed to get a raw deal.
I was also upset at her attitude (as shown in the book) to her husbands illness.
Not a book that I'll re-read
The whole thing seemed very superficial, I didnt find Lynne Barber a sympathetic person, and became very angry at the way everything was told totally from her perspective, with no thought about the feelings of other people, especially her parents, who seemed to get a raw deal.
I was also upset at her attitude (as shown in the book) to her husbands illness.
Not a book that I'll re-read
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
For anyone who's interested in a career in journalism
Real-life, as it often is, was far seedier and less romantic than the movies and the young Lynn Barber wasn't starry-eyed and swept off her feet like her film counterpart, Jenny. Read more
Published 8 months ago by TG
A misleading title . . .
Having seen the film 'An Education', I have to say that I was disappointed when I finally read the book. Read more
Published 8 months ago by SixtiesSchoolgirl
A brilliant read!
I adored this book. I'm a little surprised that the first part (about the author's teenage affair with a much older, secretly-married man) has caused such a stir and had a film... Read more
Published 16 months ago by E Matthew
An Honest Memoir
I wanted to read this memoir before watching the film which is scripted by Nick Hornby. The book is very short at only 180 pages and I believe the film is based on Chapter Two... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lincs Reader
highly recommend
great film - made me buy the book, although haven't read it yet. Definately recommend it.
Published 21 months ago by Mrs. S. A. Phipps
An entertaining and compulsive read
Having seen the film of the same name twice I was delighted when my sister lent me this book. I realised that the film was based on only one chapter of the book, but was keen to... Read more
Published 22 months ago by hiljean
Good memoir
I wanted to read this memoir before seeing the film of the same name (which is actually only based on a small section of the book). Read more
Published 22 months ago by Nicola
ok
not in the condition it was advertised as, but as it was a book for personal use it did not matter too much. otherwise prompt, good delivery
Published 23 months ago by ll236
Great Book
We read this book as part of our book group, I had actually seen the movie first so was surprised that it was only related to 1 chapter of the book. Read more
Published on 15 May 2010 by M. George
Absolutely gripping, laugh out loud
completely different to the film, hilarious, brutally honest and real. You will want to read cover to cover. One of my favs
Published on 13 May 2010 by Y. Ren
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