Windswept & Interesting: My Autobiography

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In a 1999 interview with “The Sunday Herald” Connolly condemned the SNP as “racist” and the new Scottish parliament as a “joke”. We're always happy to answer any questions or queries you might have, please get in touch using one of the methods below.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. They don’t like his movies where he doesn’t make it to the closing credits and there have been a few of them. His childhood was very difficult and it is inspiring to read about the various ways he found to channel that into comedy and other creative pursuits. Highly readable, like Billy's stand up the narrative has the intimate feel of being sat in a pub with the subject, telling stories and funny anecdotes, each interspersed with Billy's own reflections and self-debasing comments. It seemed impossible for her to mention where they were without stating the famous people they spoke to at another famous person's party, who they spent time with at dinner parties and even which famous person one of their children was sick over on a plane .

I’ve learned to be wary of beige people and to appreciate the freedom of naked dancing (vicariously, not personally). Like Billy, I really only need one book that I can read every month and it will be like reading a new book each time as my information retention is pretty useless. Portobello Book Blog is not responsible for the republishing of the content found on this blog on other Web sites or media without its permission.

Billy’s pitch-perfect stand-up comedy kept coming too – for over 50 years, in fact – until a double diagnosis of cancer and Parkinson’s Disease brought his remarkable live performances to an end. He is the recipient of a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award and is regularly voted the nation's favourite stand-up comedian.the scars this leaves behind become clear in adult life; a wonderful portrayal of a man I greatly admire for his wit and intelligence. You’ll learn “wee interesting things” about Billy here, some you’ll already know as if it’s your own autobiography, but you won’t care because it’s Billy.

Through books like those I found proof that you can think for yourself, that you don’t need to fit into ‘the system’ like a piece of Lego. His life is a seemingly infinite wellspring of incident, all of which he’s commendably frank and open about. Some stories I already felt connected to as I remembered watching him do it on various shows and others were a fresh revelation, but both were equally captivating. I admire him for a lot of reasons, like he came from a lower class part of Glasgow and suffered terrible abuse and made something of himself; even after being told repeatedly that he'd amount to nothing. His delight in visiting new places, meeting new people, and performing is evident throughout the book.Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). Being from just down the road in Ayrshire he's national hero to me and his face should be on our currency IMO. I remember, much to everyone in the family’s amusement, that a couple of elderly great-aunts went to see him in the Edinburgh Playhouse probably in the 1980s. Golden for diehard fans, I’m sure, but for those of us a little less likely to fall under his spell, the looseness becomes something of a distraction.

In his very early years as a comedian, I knew he was going to be a super success if, a) "the authorities" didn't ban his incorrigible use of every swear word known to man, and b) he survived his hard-core drinking. Such is our familiarity with the Big Yin’s saga, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he’s already written his memoir. A brilliant biography, all the more insightful for being written by Billy's wife and a psychologist no less! A compelling read very interesting, he had a rough up bringing and worked hard to get to were he is now. His wardrobe was as famous as his joke-telling with leotards, scissor suits, and banana boots adding to his allure.Connolly finds himself in this unhealthy domestic situation after his mother runs off with another man, and his father is posted overseas during the war. This genre-defining book is now re-released for a new generation of comedy fans, with a stunning package and a new Foreword from the author.