- Unknown Binding: 352 pages
- Publisher: BBC Large Print; Large print ed edition (2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0754094448
- ISBN-13: 978-0754094449
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,458,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having bought this book a little while ago, I started to read it about 1 week before the legendary Ronnie Barker died. I have always been a fan of his and was keen to know more about his career. The book certainly does explain about Ronnie's upbringing and career, but the writer (Bob McCabe) has a thankfully unique writing style. He repeats lines over and over again (I lost count of the number of times he told us that Clarence was the last sit com Ronnie wrote) and his general style is quite painful at times, especially when describing dialogue. If you want to remember Ronnie - watch some of his old TV programmes or films...don't rely on this biography.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This biography of one of Britain's best loved comic institutions is actually a revised repeat of a glossy, larger-print "coffee table" style book published in 1998, extended to include the various attempts to coax Ronnie out of retirement, his belated success on film, in more serious roles, and the preparations to resurrect The Two Ronnies, after nearly 18 years.
The traditional book format this time means that there are fewer photographs, but apart from that nothing has been left out. Anyone expecting lots of Barker wit and colleagues' anecdotes will be disappointed; this is a fairly straightforward account of his career, from backstage hand in rep in the 50s to retirement in '87 and beyond. It does include words of wisdom, technique and experience from the man himself, and does have a sprinkling of excerpts from songs and sketches that he wrote (including the complete "Fork Handles"). It does also include quotes from his partners from time to time, all generally complimentary.
So there are no revelations of a deprived childhood, or guerilla warfare with landladies, or life-threatening illnesses or accidents, or salacious love affairs to excite a public used to tabloid journalism. Ronnie Barker was and still is a consumate professional with a natural gift to make people laugh and a disinclination to seek unnecessary publicity. This biography reflects all that, and it is the more refreshing for it.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Badly written and badly edited. The book teaches us nothing about Ronnie Barker except that he's a gifted actor and a lovely fellow; but these things we already knew or we wouldn't be buying the book. There are no interviews with his family so as to protect his private life and most of the lauded contributors comment only on his career, not the man. Indeed, the book as a whole is merely a chronology of his career and more of a biography of each project than of Ronnie himself. The author contradicts himself (his ambition was to be in movies/he was never bothered with movies, he didn't really learn from other actors, just enjoyed being entertained/he watched them and learned from them); the content is jumbled and out of sequence; and many (albeit amusing) anecdotes are squashed in with no point to them. At one point the author lifted a whole block of text from one chapter and repeated it a couple of chapters later (when telling us that the Ronnies upped and offed to Australia for a year). I can, at a stretch, forgive the writer for repeating himself, but this, and many other flaws, should have been picked up and resolved in the editing process.
I've given it an extra star because it included the text of the "Four Candles/Fork Handles sketch" otherwise it's only worthy of one star.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Now repeat after me
This epitomises all that can go wrong with an authorised biography.With the subject peering over you and telling you what and what not to write you end up with a sort of dogs... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mb Davis
The Authorized Biography of Ronnie Barker
Whilst I can see some of the reservations about this book as noted by other reviewers, I still found it to be an immensely enjoyable read. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Spider Monkey
V. Poor
I bought this book in a charity shop. For this I am glad. I would have been gutted if I had paid the full price. Don't misunderstand, I think Ronnie Barker is a genius. Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2009 by Powners
great for fans
There's a lot of depth in this and ronnie has clearly let the author speak to all his friends and supporters. Read more
Published on 27 April 2008 by variety fan
difficult ...
Is the problem with authorised books that they only speak to the subject's friends and that they only say squeaky clean things about them? Read more
Published on 18 April 2008 by Chris Miller
A good read
Reading this book makes you realise that Ronnie retired too early, even though he did retire early he still packed a lot into a career that didn't really have any low points, he... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2008 by Bodd
Ronnie
I've been a great fan of Ronnie Barker for years and admired his work. The book contains fascinating insights into the man behind the comedy from himself and the people around him. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2004
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