Picador Collection
2 total works
Clive James, a true polymath, became a generation-defining voice as a broadcaster, a critic, a poet and an author. Among his greatest achievements, his five hilarious, heartwarming books of autobiography are collected now in two volumes: his Complete Unreliable Memoirs.
'It is one of the most tender, frank and, above all, funny accounts of growing up I have ever read' – Michael Parkinson
With his trademark humour and self-deprecating style, Clive James proves a hugely entertaining and erudite guide to his own remarkable life.
In this first volume, James explores his childhood adventures in the suburbs of post-war Sydney, his excited arrival in Sixties’ London as a young man and aspiring poet, and his time at Cambridge University where he neglected his studies in favour of poetry, the stage, the music business and the film industry.
From a true national treasure, this is a collection of one of the most well-loved and acclaimed memoirs of our times.
I was born in 1939. The other big event of that year was the outbreak of the Second World War, but for the moment, that did not affect me . . .
'A comic triumph' – London Review of Books
The Complete Unreliable Memoirs: Volume One collects the first three books of autobiography from Clive James: Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, and May Week Was In June.
The final two books, North Face of Soho and The Blaze of Obscurity, are available in Volume Two.
Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.
By turns hilarious, insightful and tender, the voice of Clive James defined a generation of writers. His memoirs, amongst the best-loved and acclaimed by any writer, are now collected in two volumes: his Complete Unreliable Memoirs. This is Volume Two.
'There can't be many writers of my generation who haven't been heavily influenced by Clive James' – Charlie Brooker
Newly married and graduated from the cloistered world of Cambridge academia, we follow Clive as he attempts to make his mark on Literary London, brushing shoulders with the rich and famous as he tries to secure a regular income – with mixed success.
In the end, it is television where he makes his mark: first as the TV critic of The Observer, where his weekly column becomes a national institution, and later as he moves in front of the camera himself and becomes one of the most recognizable faces in the country.
Rollicking through the end of one century and the beginning of the next, we follow Clive as he dives into the culture of TV during a golden age. He interviews Jane Fonda and Katherine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Françoise Sagan, Peter Ustinov ('even his nose could act') and Ronald Reagan. He explores the Paris fashion shows and the Louisville Kentucky Holiday Inn talent pageant, sends Postcards from Kenya, Shanghai, Tokyo and Dallas, interprets the news, discovers the first bizarre examples of what has come to be known as reality TV, and promotes the career of the irrepressible Margarita Pracatan.
Taking you behind the scenes of his years on television, and charting the course of his remarkable career, this is memoir at its sharpest and most entertaining – a fitting conclusion to a classic series.
'He will be seen, I think, as one of the most important and influential writers of our time' – Sunday Times
The Complete Unreliable Memoirs: Volume One collects the final two books of memoir from Clive James: North Face of Soho and The Blaze of Obscurity.
The first three books, Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, and May Week Was In June, are available in Volume One.
Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.