At My Mother's Knee...And Other Low Joints: Tales from Paul’s mischievous young years - Softcover

O'Grady, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553819488 ISBN 13: 9780553819489

Publisher: Bantam, 2009

Synopsis

Paul O'Grady is one of Britain's very best loved entertainers. He is known and adored by millions, whether as the creator of the acid-tongued Blonde Bombsite, Lily Savage, the presenter of the fantastically successful, award-winning Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 or the massive hit ITV show, For the Love of Dogs.

Now, in his own unique voice, Paul O'Grady tells story of his early life in Irish Catholic Birkenhead that started him on the long and winding road from mischievous altar boy to national treasure. It is a brilliantly evoked, hilarious and often moving tale of gossip in the back yard, bragging in the corner shop and slanging matches on the front doorstep, populated by larger-than-life characters with hearts of gold and tongues as sharp as razors.

At My Mother's Knee features an unforgettable cast of rogues, rascals, lovers, fighters, saints and sinners - and one iconic bus conductress. It's a book which really does have something for everyone and which reminds us that, when all's said and done, there's a bit of savage in all of us...
*Please note the tenth anniversary edition of this title has a different cover to the original.

About this title

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

Review

"One of the most brilliantly observed testimonies to working-class life I've ever read" (Sue Carroll Mirror)

"Funny, well observed and recognisably human. Soon you start to wonder why all celebrity autobiographies can't be like this" (Private Eye)

"Among the three-for-two slew of sleb lit heaped on the tables of the nation's major bookshops... At My Mother's Knee distinguishes itself on every level" (Carol Ann Duffy Observer)

"Paul speaks with warmth and hilarity about a childhood filled with poverty. Hugely interesting and entertaining" (Heat)

"While most celeb memoirs are as memorable as an air kiss, O'Grady's is a proper snog" (Scotsman)

"Warmly funny, dry and mischievous... Genuine - and brilliant" (Daily Mail)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0553819488
• ISBN 13: 9780553819489
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480