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At My Mother's Knee ... | 
 enlarge | Author: Paul O'grady
Publisher: Bantam Press
Category: Book
List Price: £18.99
Buy New: £6.63
You Save: £12.36 (65%)
New (36) Used (3) from £6.63
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 8
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 0593059255
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.45092
EAN: 9780593059258
ASIN: 0593059255
Publication Date: September 24, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Paul O'Grady, apart from being one of Britain's best loved entertainers, is a classic example of reinvention, as At My Mother’s Knee demonstrates. The young Liverpool entertainer, an altar boy from Irish Catholic Birkenhead, becomes the acid-tongued and outrageous drag queen Lily Savage, and moves from gay pubs to national television, creating something of a British comic institution en route (O'Grady's caustic drag character was a world away from safer predecessors such as Danny La Rue). But O'Grady (like other comic performers such as John Cleese) realised that comic creations can have a limited shelf life, and reinvented himself as aPaul O'Grady’, coming out from behind the false breasts and towering wigs as a toned-down (but still camp), more audience-friendly TV presenter (wisely, he retained the abrasive voice and a Scouse accent that could be cut with a knife).At My Mother's Knee and Other Low Joints is an entertaining autobiography from someone who really does have a life that is worth writing about. Gossipy, sharp and colourful, the cast of characters in Paul O'Grady's life includes rogues and rascals galore, all of whom are evoked here with great comic skill. O'Grady was variously a boxer, a civil servant, a conman and even a cat burglar - all of these failed careers are on display here, as is a surprisingly pungent picture of the Liverpool nightclub scene. When so many showbiz autobiographies these days are written by people who have a barely had a life outside of their fame, it's refreshing to encounter one by somebody whose story would be interesting even if he were not a major TV star. --Barry Forshaw
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
Brilliant and hilarious December 1, 2008
What can I say?...brilliant!. I havent laughed so hard for years and really couldnt put this book down, in fact I finished it 12 hours after I began reading.In many ways I could relate to Pauls early years .I was , however, rather upset to find out that the book only goes up to his 18th year!. Come on Paul, we want more!!!!.
Excellent! November 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a fantastic read and one I managed to complete very quickly. I loved the early years of Paul's life in which he describes his mother and aunts. It reminded me so much of my long missed grandmother and the things that those women of a post war era got up to.
Absolutely loved the way the book was set out, it was coherent unlike some autobiographies and gave a great insight into Paul's life that is honest and forthright. The later years were interesting and again very honest. This man has certainly lead a very interesting life (and the book ends when he is eighteen)and I can't wait to read the next installment and find out how LIly Savage came to be and what other (mis)adventures Paul got up to in the proceeding years.
Highly recommended.
Paul O'Grady at his mothers knee. November 11, 2008
Have just finished reading this,what a fantastic read!! Very funny don't read this last thing at night as you won't be able to sleep for laughing! Buy it you won't regret it!
Wonderful book November 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Best book I've read this year. Very well written. Full of life and also very funny indeed. Don't like using cliches, but this is definitely an 'instant classic'.
Tears and laughter October 22, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
You can actually hear Paul dictating the words. There are heart tugging moments but there are also laugh out loud moments from a giggle to a hearty belly laugh. The characters who populated Paul's world are larger than life and twice as funny. This is a book that is, to coin a word, unputdownable and one I shall keep. I can't wait for the next one.
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