Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An enfant terrible for our times, 11 Jun 2007
After seeing Keith Allen in the recent BBC television series Robin Hood where he plays the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham, I was keen to find out more about the man behind the menace. This autobiography doesn't disappoint. Keith takes us through a life of crime and comedy, where the villainy of his exploits is only matched by the hilarity of his storytelling. From his unbelievably naughty childhood on to carousing and stand-up in the Comedy Store, through his television years with the Comic Strip Presents (with several laugh-out-loud anecdotes involving such luminaries as Rik Mayall and Robbie Coltrane which range from the witty to the downright filthy), on up to the present day, with the extraordinary success of his rock star daughter Lily, it's the picture of a life spent at the wild fringes of society, and yet one which strangely reflects the changing times. What binds it all together is Keith's charm and honesty. Despite his breakneck pace of living and his recklessness he comes across as an incredibly genuine person in an era when such qualities are often lacking. I really enjoyed this. Highly recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not always pleasant, but always enjoyable, 16 Sep 2008
I finished this book a month ago but I didn't write a review then because I just couldn't make my mind up about it. Even after allowing time to mull it over I still can't.
I realise I'm just a boring nine to fiver but I was pretty appalled at some of Keith Allens exploits as described in the book. Many things he as done are just plain wrong - wrecking night clubs, impregating women and having nothing to do with the resulting offspring, burglary, over indulgence in drugs and alcohol etc, etc. He seemed to do whatever he wanted to do and damn the consequences.
It put me in mind of those cartoons I used to watch when I was a kid. Occasionally in these cartoons one of the characters would face a moral choice, maybe whether or not to eat that big, gorgeous looking cake. To illustrate the characters dilemma a tiny version of himself would appear, dressed like the devil. This devil would urge him to eat the cake as it was delicious and no one would ever know who ate it. Then another tiny version would appear, this time an angelic version of himself. This angel would then give the other argument, trying to persuade him that eating the cake was wrong. On reading 'Grow up' it would appear that either the Keith Allens little angel never appeared, the devil beat it to a pulp or Keith Allen ignored it completely.
I admit though that whilst his behaviour may made me cringe I still thought it was an excellent book that I enjoyed immensely, although I kept feeling that by enjoying it I was condoning Keith Allens actions.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
His name is Keith, 16 Jul 2007
Ok. To start life out with the name 'Keith' might be considered a kind of handicap but to suffer the unsettled world that befell Keith Allen would be enough to turn anyone a bit odd. There is no doubt about it Keith Allen is odd by any of the usual scales of judgement. He is one on his own. No man is an island but Mr Allen comes pretty close. I came to this book having known Keith Allen through his early TV work and Comic Strip and by his later 'Bodies' embodiment of NHS consultant egomaina. As an NHS consultant myself I thought his performance completely engaging and real.
I have always been rather scared of Keith's persona and have always thought that he was one of those characters whom, if you met them, you woud have to laugh along with or suffer the menacing wrath of his violent diatribes. This opinion has changed in later years as he has displayed his obvious talent.
So it was I came to this book hoping to meet the man himself not the demonised character presented by the press. Half way though I wanted to be his mate. I wanted to share those evenings at the Groucho and at Glastonbury, but then things took a turn and that turn was exemplified by his attitude to his relationships. He defends his behaviour over and over by claiming that he is basically 'good' but rarely gives us instances where goodness overcomes a selfish shortterm desire to fulfill his immediate needs, mainly carnal. You sometimes get the impression that some of the minor characters in this are being swept along on the tide of Allen rather than living lives themselves. The impression is that he doesn't have much time for people who are just wading themselves though life in the best way they can and whilst he seems happy to justify his own behaviour with a sort of amateur psychology he won't offer the same courtesy to others.
There is nothing wrong necessarily with his behaviour if you subscribe to a nihlistic, anarchic way of life, which I kind of do, but to try and defend it in 'middle class' terms is a bit of a cop out.
It may be that because a lot of the book was apparently written with his ex partner that he has been misrepresented to a degree and if that is the case it is unfortunate for him and fortunate for us in that it allows us to see the real Keith more clearly.
To the book; It is a good read and amusing in part as well as giving those of a sheltered upbringing an idea of how people who go bad turn out the way they do as well as giving a fairly balanced perspective on the use of drink and drugs and excess and why people do it. Some of the fun evenings are represented as being really good fun. I guess he hates a lot of things and a lot of people and would never afford them the sort of indulgence he expects from his reader but that just amplifies who he is.
I think I would like Keith Allen as a friend but wouldn't want my sister, if I had one, to marry him.
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