A Day Like Today by John Humphrys review – 'I like arguing'

The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing styleJohn Humphrys is the first to admit he doesn’t deal well with authority. He inherited it from his father, who refused to use the service entrance at the grand houses where he worked as a French polisher and, as a child, once watched his aunt get a humiliating dressing-down from the vicar for missing church. Humphrys had his own brush with condescending authority figures when he was in hospital with a cyst on his spine at 13, and an “arrogant posh bastard consultant” told his retinue of trainees it was because he didn’t wash regularly. “I don’t like being defined or told what to do, whoever is in charge,” he notes, a stance that has proved useful for grilling politicians (he has interviewed eight prime ministers), though it has also landed him in hot water.His memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career and analysis of the evolution of broadcasting with diatribes and petty score-settling. The early chapters tell of his passage from teen lackey on the Penarth Times in Wales, where his main task was standing outside the local church taking the names of those attending weddings and funerals, to being the first journalist on the scene at the Aberfan disaster, near Merthyr Tydfil, in which 116 children and 28 adults died after a colliery tip collapsed. Later he became a BBC foreign correspondent, reporting on the 1971 war... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-10-10 06:30:10 UTC ]

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It was all a blur: How guitarist Graham Coxon (barely) survived Britpop, in a memoir

Blur guitarist Graham Coxon had fame and fortune, but hated the attention. His sharp memoir 'Verse, Chorus, Monster!' documents his struggles and recovery Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-02-24 14:00:20 UTC ]
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8 Peruvian Books in Translation

I'm recommending eight Peruvian books in translation, from surrealist short stories to creative memoir to bloody historical fiction. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-02-22 11:33:00 UTC ]
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12 new books to get your hands on this week.

Hot off the presses: new books from Rebecca Makkai, Nona Fernández, and more! * Rebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions for You (Viking) “This psychological thriller hits all the high notes, complete with at least a few revelations you won’t see coming.” –Good Housekeeping Erica Berry, Wolfish... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-21 09:56:59 UTC ]
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Nicola Sturgeon’s memoirs attract fevered speculation from publishers

The departing Scottish first minister has already said she plans to write about her time in office, and publishers are showing keen interestPublishers will be clamouring to buy a memoir by Nicola Sturgeon, with any deal expected to involve a six-figure advance, literary agents have... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-18 08:00:35 UTC ]
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This Week's Bestsellers: February 20, 2023

Heather Gay, one of the 'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,' makes her debut with the memoir 'Bad Mormon,' the #1 book in the Mountain region of the U.S. Plus two February book club picks hit our lists: 'Someone Else’s Shoes' by Jojo Moyes and Sadeqa Johnson’s 'The House of Eve.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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New Aussie drama Bad Behaviour gives us a complex portrayal of girlhood and queer stories

Stan’s new series adapted Rebecca Starford’s memoir gives brutal and honest insight into the consequences of bullying. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-02-17 02:14:58 UTC ]
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‘I broke out in a cold sweat’: could you stomach seeing your memories of bullying play out on TV?

Bad Behaviour author Rebecca Starford and the team behind a dramatisation of her memoir reflect on how they recreated her frightening account of her elite boarding schoolGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailWhen Rebecca Starford was 14 she spent a year living in the bush as part of an... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-14 14:00:16 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘The Critic’s Daughter,’ by Priscilla Gilman

In her memoir “The Critic’s Daughter,” Priscilla Gilman recounts her life with intensely intellectual — and very different — parents. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-02-13 10:00:09 UTC ]
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Solomon Perel, Jew Who Posed as a Hitler Youth to Survive, Dies at 97

His masquerade — a tale recounted in a memoir and in the film “Europa Europa” — saved his life. But “to this day,” he said, “I have a tangle of two souls in one body.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-02-11 22:40:33 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of February 13, 2023

Super Bowl winner Malcolm Jenkins sells a book about his life on and off the field to S&S, and Viking buys a memoir by Barbra Streisand. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy will be publishing a book about his 50 favorite songs.

Beloved dad-rocker Jeff Tweedy is no stranger to publishing: he has two previous titles under his belt about his life in music, one a memoir of his time with Wilco, the other about the art of songwriting. (Perhaps my favorite bit of Tweedy literalia, though, is his appearance as a character in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-09 16:20:44 UTC ]
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Growing Up in Between White and Black America

Davon Loeb’s debut memoir The In-Betweens follows the story of his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood as a biracial young man growing up between various cultures, races, and identities. Loeb grows up with a Black mother and a white, Jewish father. In school, he is one of the few Black... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-02-09 12:00:00 UTC ]
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If You Loved Prince Harry's 'Spare,' Here Are Some Equally Juicy Celeb Memoirs

Luckily for us, the celebrity memoir genre is rife with tantalizingly tales from stars past and present. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2023-02-09 10:45:21 UTC ]
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That long-promised, official Barbra Streisand memoir is finally getting published

'My Name Is Barbra,' the memoir that superstar Barbra Streisand said she's been working on for more than a decade, will be published this fall. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-02-08 20:02:43 UTC ]
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When my memoir came out, I got a brutal shock. Vulnerable writers need protection | Terri White

Nothing prepared me for revisiting the most painful times of my life – then being criticised for it. We need industry-wide guidelines to helpI called her Terri The World Gets. She was the outward-facing me, the woman I’d spent decades curating. And Terri The World Gets was about to be rocketed... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-08 08:00:10 UTC ]
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Barbra Streisand Announces Memoir Out This Year

Barbra Streisand announced that her long-awaited memoir My Name Is Barbra will be coming out November 7, 2023 with Viking Books. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-02-07 16:37:49 UTC ]
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Barbra Streisand to publish her first memoir

In ‘one of the greatest tales of the creative life ever told’, the singer, actor and director recounts her life and 60-year career, in which she won scores of awards, many times as the first woman to do soBarbra Streisand will publish her first memoir later this year, her publisher has... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-07 16:11:50 UTC ]
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My Name Is A Direct Line To A Colonizing Ancestry I Still Benefit From

About twenty pages into Sofia Samatar’s memoir The White Mosque, Sigmund Freud appears, sitting in a train compartment late at night. Up to this point, Samatar’s story has been primarily about her travels across Central Asia to study The Bride Sect, a Mennonite group who fled persecution in... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-02-07 12:05:00 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Holding Fire,’ by Bryce Andrews

In his memoir “Holding Fire,” Bryce Andrews confronts the violence and guilt of past generations. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-02-07 10:00:30 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: February 6, 2023

“Will this book, like so many cultural products made by creatives of color, be expected to somehow prove the viability of Black novels in the marketplace?” Debut author Laura Warrell on publishing while Black. | Lit Hub Memoir Rapid-fire reviews of the literary adaptations that premiered at... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-06 11:30:35 UTC ]
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