- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton; illustrated edition edition (15 Nov 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340936150
- ISBN-13: 978-0340936153
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (151 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
15,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Television > TV Genres > Comedy
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
‘The most talented stand-up comedian to emerge in Britain this decade, Brand combines Eddie Izzard’s rare ability to carry a whole crowd along on an audacious flight of comic fancy with the carnal magnetism of the young George Best. Audiences leave a Brand performance not just entertained but actively debauched by his catalogue of erotic misadventure.’
(Daily Telegraph )Product Description
'My life is a series of embarrassing incidents strung together by telling people about those embarrassing incidents.'Russell Brand's scandalous reminiscences were always going to have a literary flavour. But nothing you've heard him say on stage, radio or TV can prepare you for the impact of this beautifully written memoir. From his troubled childhood in Essex and his addictions to drink, drugs and sex, to his giddy rise through the world of entertainment, this is not simply a story of fame but of redemption, achingly and hilariously honest throughout.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I live in Denmark, thus I have never experienced various Russell Brand media dramas that have been. It seems to me like he is a man who has divided up Britain: either you love him passionately or you hate him passionately. Not being a part of this I guess that helped me read this book without prejudices.
I must say I was really moved by his story. Why? He has told his story beautifully, in a vivid language. In this autobiography Russell is having an ironic distance to really horrible events in his life. This ironic distance is what makes the book so good because it really shows how much it has affected him and that makes it extremely personal. I think his defence mechanism is his humour and using humour describing situations that are anything but humorous really gives you an insight into his bruised past. The pages are filled with humour, but the story is full of sorrow.
I must say I was really moved by his story. Why? He has told his story beautifully, in a vivid language. In this autobiography Russell is having an ironic distance to really horrible events in his life. This ironic distance is what makes the book so good because it really shows how much it has affected him and that makes it extremely personal. I think his defence mechanism is his humour and using humour describing situations that are anything but humorous really gives you an insight into his bruised past. The pages are filled with humour, but the story is full of sorrow.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First off, I have to admit Brand is not a man I greatly warm to, particularly after recent disasters, but there are moments in this book where I laughed out loud and it is written with a rather endearing honesty. There's something essentially Byronic about the man, in my opinion. And in some ways the book has made me like him better. But the astonishing thing - and the reason you must consider it as one for your reading list - is that it absolutely has the best last two pages I have ever read in any biography. Or any work of non-fiction indeed. And the utter best last line. It's stunning and it left me (a) in tears and (b) hugely impressed. If Brand can write like that with such piercing clarity and depth, then more please and soon.
48 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Russell Brand has lived a life, there can be no doubting that. He has been brave enough to publish some of the most personal of experiences which in itself I believe deserves recognition. I don't think I could ever bare my soul in the way Russell has, let alone make it half as entertaining as he has here. I read this through, cover to cover in one read. Some parts had me in tears and some in hysterics. He has a fascinating way with words and a style which is rarely seen in mainstream writing today.
I suppose as a big fan of Russell's, I am bound by some unwritten law...(it's probably written somewhere) to be full of praise for his autobiography and though I'll admit that is the case I feel it is most deserved. The only minor criticism is that the ending feels slightly neglected and lacks the passion entwined within the other 330 pages. Having said that, the last paragraph is superb and almost perfectly encapsulates Russell's rather stormy rise to fame, so superb in fact that it sent a shiver down my spine (in a good way).
I can't say how non-fans (what a rather horribly obscure term) will react to the book. However judging by some of the harsh comments on here (which I don't quite understand, it seems some reviewers decided to use the review section to post their views on the man himself, other than his writing) I get the feeling that some people didn't actually understand (for lack of a better word) the man. Perhaps the interview with Dawn French would be a better place to start.
I've reviewed this as an autobiography and I think it does a brilliant job at being exactly that: an autobiography.
I suppose as a big fan of Russell's, I am bound by some unwritten law...(it's probably written somewhere) to be full of praise for his autobiography and though I'll admit that is the case I feel it is most deserved. The only minor criticism is that the ending feels slightly neglected and lacks the passion entwined within the other 330 pages. Having said that, the last paragraph is superb and almost perfectly encapsulates Russell's rather stormy rise to fame, so superb in fact that it sent a shiver down my spine (in a good way).
I can't say how non-fans (what a rather horribly obscure term) will react to the book. However judging by some of the harsh comments on here (which I don't quite understand, it seems some reviewers decided to use the review section to post their views on the man himself, other than his writing) I get the feeling that some people didn't actually understand (for lack of a better word) the man. Perhaps the interview with Dawn French would be a better place to start.
I've reviewed this as an autobiography and I think it does a brilliant job at being exactly that: an autobiography.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not Quite as Addictive as Heroin Sounds, but...
When I walk into a bookshop, two genres generally get my back up: "real life tragedies", which are essentially just macroscopic catharses, and joyless ones at that; and celebrity... Read more
Published 1 month ago by E.G. Wolverson
Honest but no a laugh out loud book
Reading the reviews on the back cover it would lead you to believe that this is a book which is right up there with any other autobiography. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Christian
I almost wet myself
It's that funny. I laughed out loud SO loud, so long, so often.
It's Russell Brand. It reads like Russell Brand - in fact, you can't really read it without hearing his... Read more
It's Russell Brand. It reads like Russell Brand - in fact, you can't really read it without hearing his... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Book Critic
Candid and honest comedic account
This book is well written and indicates that for all Russell's bravado and liking to shock, there is an intelligent, well-read and insightful individual underneath. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Annie Fur Lactic
my reviewy wooey
compelling insight into the destructive darker side of human nature. he's living testament to the power to turn life around when it spirals out of control. Read more
Published 5 months ago by flogie
Product
Brought for my sister for christmas and ended up reading it myself and now i have brought the 2nd part. great item.
Published 6 months ago by ketchley
Did not dissapoint.
Even though I bought this book for 1.99 from an Oxfam shop I still felt a little embarrassed to be seen reading it in public. Read more
Published 6 months ago by R. Britain
A book I actually finished! Must be good.
I am a very late comer to Russell Brand. I first became aware of him a few years ago on a very rare occasion. I was watching trashy TV ( Big Bros Little Bro). Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. Aj Des Forges
Bloomin' brilliant
I have been meaning to read this since it was released but everytime I've spied it in a shop something has held me back. Read more
Published 6 months ago by aymt2310
Good fun.
Great wee read. Well worth money paid, couldn't put it down. Brand's pre-fame years very interesting and fascinating. Definitely worth the read.
Published 7 months ago by C. murray
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