Billy

Book Details

Library

Author

Pamela Stephenson

Category

Biography

Publisher

HarperCollins

Printed By

Griffin Press

Country

Australia

Personal

Year Published

2001

Date Read

22/07/2006

ISBN

0007110456

Personal Rating

10/10

Binding

Bookclub Edition

Purchase

Pages

291

Acquired from 

Marlborough Library

Overview

Once in a lifetime, there strides upon the stage someone who can truly be called a legend. Such a one is the inimitable, timeless genius who is Billy Connolly. His effortlessly wicked whimsy has entranced, enthralled – and split the sides of – thousands upon thousands of adoring audiences. And when he isn't doing that... he's turning in award-winning performances on film and television.

He's the man who needs no introduction, and yet he is the ultimate enigma. From a troubled and desperately poor childhood in the docklands of Glasgow, he is now the intimate of household names the world over. But who is the man behind the myth?

Comment

This is the funniest non-fiction book I've ever read. Billy had a horrible childhood, but perhaps not an unusual one in his neighbourhood. His amazing, unique genius helped him get past abandonment, verbal and sexual abuse, and out of the grim sentence of working at the Glasgow docks. His road to success is presented to here, with wry observations from the man himself helping to keep the story a little more grounded.

Thoroughly entertaining reading.