Frighteningly badly written. A wasted opportunity.
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What a top subject for a biography. What a terrible shame. At one point Pamela Stephenson laments Billy's being awarded an honorary Doctorate when she's had to work so hard to get hers. Shame she doesn't demonstrate any of her hard work in the book. I was looking forward to reading it but in the end was left bitterly disappointed by the experience.
Lin and Wendy Cook's (separate) books about Peter, anyone?
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Very funny but would've been hillarious if Billy had wrote it himself.
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Pamela has done a good job of writing this book.She's obviously done plenty of research with Billy's family and friends and you can tell that a lot of the tales have come straight from Billy's mouth by the hillarious way they're told and the very funny phrases used.But the book could've been so much better if Billy had wrote it himself with his amazing talent for story telling.
The book is at its best in the first half about Billy's sad childhood,his days working as a welder,and how he came to be a stand-up comedian.The second half about his life since he became famous is a bit lacking in Billy's hillarious tales.
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The Big Yawn
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This book left me with the same feeling I get after scarfing candyfloss - unsatisfied and slightly sick. Billy's childhood story held my attention, despite the annoying psychological analyses and labeling from the author, solely because such topics as overcoming a difficult and abusive childhood are interesting. What 'maketh the man' and so forth. I did find that I had to repeatedly go back and reference who the pivotal people of Billy's childhood were, for some reason their names and the role they played in his development were not sticking. Maybe too many people with a first name beginning with M? Or maybe it was just tediously and poorly written?
I found that his first marriage was rather dismissed - Iris was a drunk, end of that story. Then along came Pamela and everything else is swiped under the carpet. If that part is too personal to reveal then don't write a biography.
And yes, the name dropping - continuous and highly irritating. Once Billy and Pamela had found superstardom the rest of the book seemed to dissolve into disjointed annecdotes of which famous person stopped by for tea and how many houses they own. They are both famous people and therefore they will know other famous people and be able to afford several houses, but it came off more like boasting than interesting.
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ol' big yin- as told by ol' big head!
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i was really looking forward to reading this book- being a fan of billy connolly- but boy! was i disappointed! pamela stephenson name drops on every other page, which starts off annoying and before long has you tearing the book to shreds and kicking the pieces around the room in anger. every chapter opens with something like this... "it is cold outside and the ground is covered in snow. a bearded tramp limps past the window of the restaurant, his beard all frosty and white, his hair is full of twigs and his trousers are stained a funny brown colour. i nearly cry, feeling ever so sorry for the poor homeless man, but then i turn around to see billy dancing playfully with juliette lewis in front of an open fire. robin williams cracks open another bottle of vintage red wine. " did you see that tramp outside?" he asks, tucking heartily into his beef wellington. "no. what tramp?" i ask, shaking my head. i had completely forgotten. oh well, here comes tom cruise... "hiya tom".
you get the picture. maybe i over- exaggerate a little, but this book reads like this nearly all the way through. avoid at all costs. shame on you pam! shame on you!
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Written with love
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think that the criticism leveled by some of the other reviewers is unfair. What Pamela Stephenson brings to this is an almost unique perspective - she writes of her subject with great affection and love and she knows him like only a spouse could. Its not a laugh a minute but there are a lot or bright moments which contrast with the darkness of Billy's early life. And as for the name dropping - well I just find it amazing that a welder from Glasgow got to meet all those people - even if he didn't always remember - so hats off to Billy and Pamsy for what they have achieved. Read it, enjoy it and be thankful for the laughs this man has brought us.
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