Biography Books > A Biography Books > C

Advantages: Very funny and enlightening
Disadvantages: sometimes a bit too honest

...saying it Graham Chapman was a “poof”. To avoid that as an issue and as a word would be to ignore a large part of what made Graham Chapman what he was. The reason I choose the word is that, amongst other things, “a poof about town” is the way he chose to portray himself in this non too serious (or is it) autobiography. The trouble is the title, “A liars autobiography” and numerous references to Biggles (and his ...
...a large pinch of salt when reading it. It certainly isn’t a dull read and goes to unusual lengths to avoid the kind of name dropping present in other autobiographies such as David Nivens “The Moons a Balloon”. In fact Nivens ego massaging opus is lampooned on many occasions, the last, slightly psychedelic chapter is titled “The moods a full baboon”. Chapman describes his life from childhood, Biggles fixation and a nasty ... Read review

Advantages: A great read, if you like his humour, you'll love this book
Disadvantages: Sad in places

...fan of the 2 Ronnies, and was gutted whenever Ronnie Barker died. This is the story of the 2 Ronnies, how they met, and their career in showbusiness. This is autoboigraphical in a way, it catalogues Ronnie Corbett's life, but soon, Ronnie Barker's presence takes over the story,and it seems more of a memoir than a biography. This book is written in a very conversational style, you can hear Ronnie's voice as he tells the story, and he paints some ...
...up to the present day, and paints a very different side of the 2 Ronnies than we have seen on TV. You see their lives offscreen and what sort of people they really were. This is an excellent tribute to Ronnie Barker, well written, and both laugh out loud and poignant. I did giggle through some parts of it, including some of the sketches that were included in full, and also some of the stories. Really worthwhile read for any 2 Ronnie's fan ... Read review

Advantages: wonderfully frank interviews, witty and fresh.
Disadvantages: none

...probably have him pegged as a stereotypical drunken paddy, fronting The Pogues as a whirlwind of frenzied punk inspired folk music and alcohol try to beat him to the floor in a dishevelled and undignified manner. This is because at the time that the band had reached its highest commercial success, it had also become the thing that he had tried to avoid all along, a serious band with one eye on the cash till and the other on the front cover of NME. ...
...and delivering a tongue in cheek party style performance had long since gone out of the window and in an effort to get through the sad fact that his creation had been hijacked by less imaginative souls, he had taken to sabotaging the band with his drunken and unreliable antics. If that is how you perceive Shane MacGowan then you must read this book. Even the attitude of the book is chaotically in keeping with this innovative and unpredictable character. ... Read review

Advantages: Gripping, informative
Disadvantages: May be found quite hard going

Carla Van Raay's autobiography "Gods Callgirl" details the life of a naive, immature girl, then woman who is devoted to God but goes from obedient convent girl to sexual prostitute over the course of her life, but remains as naive as ever. This life story is divided into three parts and develops the tale of this Dutch girl's life over the course of the book. Part one examines the life of a child abused by her father, yet finding she felt abandoned ...
...God from a very young age. As a school girl she idolising the convent and her sole ambition in life is to serve God as a nun in one of Australia's many convents. As an early teenager feeling unloved at home by her family yet supporting her mother in everyday chores and childcare of her brothers and sister she found herself believing she was a product of the devil. A problem no confession could speak of, and no action could heal. Part two follows ... Read review

Advantages: Neil Warnock
Disadvantages: Neil Warnock

There are individuals in sports that only come around so often. People that get everyone talking whether it be how much they admire them or how much they dislike them; Neil Warnock fits this category perfectly. Controversy follows him everywhere, so it is fitting that he should produce an autobiography that i'm sure even those that hate him so much would be just a little intrigued to read. This is the story of one of english domestic football's ...
...humble beginnings in Sheffield through an unglamorous but respectable playing career to a managerial career littered with controversy, success and disappointment. The dream of the Sheffield born man and Blades fan was always to manage his beloved Sheffield United and this dream was realised. He was hated by sections of his own teams support often but his team battled adversity to reach the promised land of the premiership - only to be denied by ... Read review