Books : At My Mother's Knee ... and Other Low Joints: The Autobiography

Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 790
EAN: 9780593059883
ISBN: 0593059883
Label: Bantam Press
Manufacturer: Bantam Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: September 24, 2008
Publisher: Bantam Press
Release Date: September 18, 2008
Sales Rank: 143489
Studio: Bantam Press

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Editorial Review:

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 ‘Paul 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

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Five stars? Without question!
I started reading this in trepidation, worrying that my expectations would be set too high. I needn't have worried. It's a wonderful book, very honest, very moving and very funny. So many of Paul's recollections of being brought up in a 60s council house without central heating rang true. I'd forgotten about how much of our lives in winter revolved round keeping warm- Paul hasn't!

I made the slight mistake of reading this in bed very late at night. A mistake, because stifling my laughter ... Read More

Rating:

- Too much information
I'm a great fan of Paul's and could not wait for his second book but I feel let down.Too much nauseating information of gay exploits , a lot of which should have remained private. Very funny in places but it was spoiled for me by graphic details of various love affairs with gay partners.Don't read this before your tea or just after it as you won't hang on to it!! Left me with a nasty taste and a different slant on Paul O' Grady. You have to have a strong stomach to get through this book!
Joy King ... Read More

Rating:

- Must read
Brilliant picked it up and read till finished cant
wait for his own book from 18yrs on
wendy

Rating:

- best book ever!!
well, this is the best book i have read and i have read a few! paul is a natural. you have got to buy this one, it will make you laugh so much. when you are reading this, you can hear paul telling you the stories of his childhood in his own way. very good, can't wait for the next chapters!

Rating:

- For what it's worth...
I haven't read this book, but I simply had to mention that it was recently given an almost unheard of glowing review in Private Eye!

Make of that what you will.

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