Join the beloved star of Just a Minute, QI, Have I Got News For You and Celebrity Gogglebox, Gyles Brandreth, in his long-waited, moving and hilarious autobiography

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'Hilarious, ribald, eye-popping, unforgettable, will make you laugh out loud' Daily Mail
'Staggeringly brilliant, funny and touching, I loved it' Joanna Lumley
'Warm, witty, charming. A moving and very affectionate family history. An enthusiast for life' The Times
_________

'I am what my childhood made me'

But what is that exactly, Gyles?
Who are you? And why?

Odd Boy Out is an extraordinarily revealing account of growing up in an apparently well-to-do but always strapped-for-cash middle-class English family. But it is also far more than that.

It is about adventures - meeting princes and presidents, visiting Death Row in America, exploring the sex clubs of Copenhagen. It is a story of a boy blessed with wit, what he got up to, and the people he met growing up in the most wonderful city in all the world in those extraordinary years after the Second World War.

For Odd Boy Out is about more than Gyles and his exploits: it is also a kaleidoscopic portrait of Britain from the 1950s onwards, featuring a cast drawn from politics, the media, swinging London, stage and screen, from Laurence Olivier to Twiggy.

By turns hilarious and moving, and chock full of unforgettable stories, Odd Boy Out is the unexpected and candid autobiography of one of the country's most unlikely personalities.

Yet at root it is a powerful and passionate exploration of childhood - how our heritage, our parents and our upbringing make us who we are.
_________

'A whirlwind of witticisms and of funny tales, both short and tall . . . 'I feel I have lived my life in a magic garden where the sun is always shining' he writes, and in Odd Boy Out he offers us yet another glimpse of that bright, shining sun' Mail on Sunday

About the Author

Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, veteran of Just A Minute, QI and The One Show, former MP and Government Whip, now Chancellor of the University of Chester and founder of the 'Poetry Together' project bringing schoolchildren and older people together to learn poetry by heart. His many books include the best-selling poetry anthology, Dancing by the Light of the Moon, and the international best-seller about spelling and punctuation, Have You Eaten Grandma? With Susie Dent, the lexicographer from Countdown, he co-hosts the award-winning podcast, Something Rhymes With Purple. With Dame Sheila Hancock he presents Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4. With Dame Maureen Lipman he is a regular on Celebrity Gogglebox.

Gyles is married to writer and publisher Michele Brown and has three children, seven grandchildren, and lives in London with his wife, his jumpers, and Nala, the neighbour's cat.

Reviews
Hilarious, ribald, eye-popping, unforgettable, will make you laugh out loud * Daily Mail *
A whirlwind of witticisms and of funny tales, both short and tall . . . 'I feel I have lived my life in a magic garden where the sun is always shining' he writes, and in Odd Boy Out he offers us yet another glimpse of that bright, shining sun * Mail on Sunday *

Warm, witty, charming. A moving and very affectionate family history. An enthusiast for life

* The Times *
Brilliant pen portraits of his father and myriad friends present a framework for Gyles's contemplation of his extraordinary life. Light-hearted and dark events alike are described with his customary deceptively jaunty style, making them funny, moving, and sometimes deeply shocking -- Sheila Hancock
Staggeringly brilliant, funny and touching, I loved it -- Joanna Lumley
A hilarious and revealing account of growing up and coming of age in an apparently well-to-do but always strapped-for-cash middle-class English family * Eastern Daily Press *
Brandreth has been an expert cheerer-upper for more than 60 years . . . Ebullient. Full of fun, famous names and sparkling facts * Daily Mail *
He's cheery, fun and has a fabulous grasp of the English language, so Gyles Brandreth's autobiography makes for a scintillating read. His hilarious - and sometimes moving - account of his life from early childhood days through to the adult world of politics and television is candid. It is also a story around his everyday family life, and about happiness, ambition and love. It offers a fascinating insight into a portrait of Britain, too * People's Friend Magazine *
Hugely enjoyable. Engaging * Choice Magazine *
Full of fascination . . . Tantalising. Alongside his celebrity stories, his delightfully observed domestic portraits bring to life whole lost worlds * Great British Life *
Fascinating * Telegraph *
A magnificent raconteur. A witty account of a most unusual life * Independent *
A fabulous raconteur with a great many tricks up his sleeve. His infectious zest for life means he has a story for almost every well-known person you can think of * Daily Telegraph *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241483718
Author Gyles Brandreth
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint Michael Joseph Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 735g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 162mm * 41mm