Spectacles

Description

The first book from the hugely talented Sue Perkins- comedian, writer, presenter and firm favourite on British television and radio for nearly fifteen years Sadly, a recycling 'incident' destroyed the bulk of my childhood stuff that my mum had kept. This has meant two things- firstly, Dear Reader, you will never get to read a poem about corn on the cob. Secondly, it's left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself. This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as 'Is Mary Berry real?', 'Is it true you wear a surgical truss?' and 'Does orchestral conducting simply involve waving your arms around?' Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me.

Sue is perhaps best known for being one quarter of double act Mel and Sue, where she plays the part of Mel. Together, the pair have bounced, shouted and gurned their way through countless hours of television, most memorably Light Lunch and its later counterpart, the imaginatively titled Late Lunch. Over the years, Sue has worked on a wide range of solo projects, including documentaries on art, popular fiction and history. In 2008 she appeared on the BBC show Maestro, culminating in her conducting at the Last Night of the Proms. She has also collaborated with food-critic Giles Coren on the Supersizers series, where the duo power-ate their way through five centuries of lungs, livers and testicles whilst half-cut on sherry. In the last couple of years, Sue has travelled extensively throughout Asia, driving the Ho Chi Minh trail, exploring the length of the Mekong River and getting felt up by a Cambodian hermit. She is a regular contributor to Have I Got News For You, Just a Minute, QI and The News Quiz and has been crowned, officially, The World's Greatest Liar in a hard fought contest in Cumbria. Oh, and apparently she does some cake show on BBC1.

Drama, tears and laughs - Spectacles has got it all. A brilliant, touching memoir suffused with love, it reminds you that life is best lived at wonky angles. I ADORED it -- Jessie Burton bestselling author of * The Miniaturist * Very funny . . . It seems there are two Sue Perkins: the TV one, who gabbles and pratfalls, and the sensitive one who aches. The first of course, exists to protect the second. They can both write. The first writes comedy, the second tragedy; in this sense, reading her memoir is very like meeting her * Sunday Times * It's a proper book . . . so well written. Tight & bright & full of inspiration -- Chris Evans * Radio 2 * Utterly wonderful. It's very, very funny and poignant and it's very Sue Perkins and that's the bliss of it -- Nina Stibbe, bestselling author of * Love, Nina and Man at the Helm * Relentlessly cheering, Spectacles is as charming and funny as Perkins herself. Like going for a long, slightly drunken lunch with your naughtiest friend * Red Magazine * Brilliantly written... fearlessly honest and full of heart, it will also make you laugh like a gibbon * Heat ***** * I absolutely loved it . . . whip smart and very funny -- Fanny Blake * Woman & Home * Life, love and loss - it's all here ... Warm, crisp and beautifully layered - like its author,Spectacles is a complete delight * Independent on Sunday * [A] deftly written and belly-laugh funny autobiography . . . Though she never suggests she might be remotely brainy, she clearly is. Her vocabulary makes Will Self's seem lacking, her writing is full of discreetly clever allusions . . . If she wants her readers to like her, she certainly achieved it with this reviewer who laughed and cried and secretly wants her as a best friend -- Elizabeth Fremantle * Daily Express * Sue's memoir will leave you feeling like you've made a new best friend. Introducing us to a cast of friends, family and love interests, and not forgetting a psychopathic nun, Sue picks apart life in a refreshingly honest, warm and downright hilarious way... Spectacles firmly cements her as an exciting writer of the future * OK Magazine * This smart and funny story is far from the photo-heavy, ghost-written volumes that it will compete with . . . Perkins is such a good writer . . . incapable of writing a boring sentence -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * Sunday Express *