Billy

by pamela stephenson | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 0060537310 Global Overview for this book
Registered by mecka-antics of Auckland, Auckland Province New Zealand on 2/23/2005
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by mecka-antics from Auckland, Auckland Province New Zealand on Wednesday, February 23, 2005
I haven't actually read this book though this comes from the Amazon.com description -

"Billy Connolly is loud, hilarious and contradictory. His biography, written by his wife, former comedian and practising psychotherapist Pamela Stephenson, is pretty much the same. Over the years Connolly has grown from Glasgow shipyard welder to folk-singing beardy hard man (yes there is such a thing) to darling of the good and great (or at least famous) around the world. That he is so many things to so many people while in no way compromising his core self can only be good. It would be no mean feat for Stephenson, then, to pen a history to that would satisfy Connolly audiences of fans and contemporaries from all periods of his life's journey. In most places, but in truth, not all, the author manages to do this well.

The first half of the biography is somewhat anthropological in tone. Not surprisingly, a post-war Glasgow upbringing is somewhat alien to the antipodean author and Stephenson errs towards Angela's Ashes intonation as she describes her husband's tenement childhood (Scots readers may also find her regular translation of seemingly self-explanatory Scots phrases--which Connolly would use--obtuse). In contrast her examination of her experience of living with the comedian and his life from that point on is much better. Anecdotes which Connolly uses in his live shows pepper the text and laughs are raised as he tells of the time he was mistaken as a drug dealer on Speyside, of his cheeky friendships with cinema's elite and even through the more difficult times; the difficulty of balancing an almost manic humour with a troubled life. Pages turn quickly as we grow to understand more of what makes the man tick.

Certainly fans of Billy Connolly will enjoy this book. It is not perfect but it is certainly entertaining and should fill a gap in the market until Billy--with his half-remembered stories and off-centre view of the world--decides to let us into his head as well as his history. There's surely one ideal way to do this and that's by writing his story himself."

Journal Entry 2 by futurecat from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Monday, July 11, 2005
Found in a pile of books left on the table outside the English department. I was tempted to grab a few more to take to tonight's meetup, but I resisted temptation and just took the one (which I've been wanting to read for a while, actually!)

Hope we'll see you at Alva Rados tonight!

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Journal Entry 3 by futurecat from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Saturday, September 3, 2005
A really interesting and well-told biography of a man with a fascinating life. The early stuff about life in the tenements of Glasgow was especially interesting to me, as my mother was born in Greenock, just up the Clyde, so many of the descriptions of working class Scottish life were familiar to me from my grandparents' stories (my Granda even started his working life in one of the shipyards on the Clyde, just like Billy Connolly).

Some of the name-dropping "look how famous we are now" introductory paragraphs to each chapter got a bit irritating, and I was a bit worried that when Pamela Stephenson entered the story it might turn into her autobiography instead, but she mostly resisted the temptation and kept herself to the background.

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Journal Entry 4 by Cathietay from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Picked up tonight at the bookcrossing dinner

Journal Entry 5 by Cathietay from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Thursday, February 16, 2006
A great biography completely unexpected. I really enjoyed this book and recommend to all. Given to Daveytay to read

Journal Entry 6 by daveytay from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Thursday, February 16, 2006
Been lucky enough to see Billy Live? I have and now I have an insight into his humor. It really brings a personal touch to his upbringing. I think most people in his situation would have gone a different way, oh wait, he drank away a decade.
A great biography nonetheless.

Journal Entry 7 by Cathietay from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Thursday, February 16, 2006
Taking down to the convention but forgot to release available if any one wants it.

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