So Me [Paperback]

Like a lot of autobiographies, So Me is more interesting and insightful on the period of struggle before Graham Norton became famous than on a life which has become a constant round of professional encounters with celebrities. He is funny on his unsuccessful career as an actor and rather touching on the friendships that date back to the years he spent as a waiter. Under a surface of camp glibness, he is surprisingly evocative about the London of the 1980s--certain key locations of his life such as the restaurant where he worked or the slum high-rise where he lived are entirely present here.

He is honest about his flaws and moving about friends who taught him to be better--for example, a commune where he lived for a year in San Francisco gets a tribute. His later life--his cult success as a comedian and his discovery that what he really was is a chat-show host--is recorded with occasional insight. He is attractively unapologetic about his taste for smut; this is who he is and what he does, and we can take it or leave it.--Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A frank, funny and sometimes tortured autobiography' (Andrew Billen, The Times )

'Honest and entertaining ... he uses his quick wit and humour to amuse the reader from start to finish' (The Sun )

'Frank and funny' (Mirror )

'A jaunty romp with oodles of humour' (Hot Stars (OK) )

'A hugely engaging account of his life that is written with the same breezy bravura that he exhibits on telly ... There are points in the book when I found myself laughing out loud, and others when I was unusually moved ... Celebrity memoirs are rarely as genuine or as generously candid' (Herald )

'Honest and entertaining ... he uses his quick wit and humour to amuse the reader from start to finish' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Frank and funny' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A jaunty romp with oodles of humour' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Graham Norton, whose impish charm and quick wit has earned him a place in our hearts, looks back at his life so far. In his own words, SO ME is 'a real romp through a journey from living in a cockroach-infested council flat in Hackney to buying Claudia Schiffer's townhouse in Manhattan, from my mother dragging me to school to me dragging her to Sharon Stone's house for New Year's brunch'.



From a not-so miserable Irish childhood to dropping out of Cork University and joining a commune of hippies in San Francisco, from his disastrous attempts at becoming a serious actor to the rise of his comedy career in London, this is a hilarious, insightful and moving account of a colourful life. (20040910)

Born in 1963, Graham Norton was brought up in County Cork, Ireland. He first ventured into the world of comedy in the early 90s, and was nominated for the prized Perrier award in 1997, when he also appeared as Father Noel Furlong (the happiest, clappiest, campest priest) in 'Father Ted'. He then got his first TV break on Channel 5's 'Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment'. In May 2000, he received the Bafta award for Best Entertainment performance for 'So Graham Norton'. His most recent chat show, 'V Graham Norton' was on 5 times a week with 3 million viewers a night. He is due to present a dance competition show in 2005 on BBC1. (20040827)