Author:David Nobbs
As a small boy David Nobbs survived the Second World War unscathed, until his bedroom ceiling fell on him when the last bomb to be dropped on Britain by the Germans landed near his home. It was the nearest he came to the war, but National Service would later make him one of Britain's most reluctant soldiers. It was an unforgettable and often unpleasant experience.
As a struggling writer, David was catapulted into the thrilling world of satire at the BBC when he rang THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS with a joke and got through to David Frost, who sent a taxi for the joke. He never looked back. His greatness as a modern comic writer was confirmed by the publication of THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN, which he adapted into the immensely successful television series that has entered the fabric of British cultural life, through phrases, images and brilliant humour.
A mesmerising, beautifully told tale of life in writing and comedy, I DIDN'T GET WHERE I AM TODAY is the hilarious, poignant and very personal story of David Nobbs' life, which also describes some of the most famous comedians of the last century and captures a golden age of British television.
Crammed with laugh-out-loud moments
—— Daily TelegraphA rollicking good read
—— Bruce Dessau , Evening StandardA thoughtful, understated memoir
—— Joe Moran , GuardianWitty and enjoyable
—— Robert Elms , BBC Radio LondonCompelling
—— ChortleFascinating
—— Ray Darcy RTE RadioA simple, readable confessional … interspersed with Coogan’s trademark caustic asides and loads of telly and performance insight… If you love Coogan, this delivers
—— Observer - Books of 2015 in reviewSelf-aware, deferential and modest
—— Times Literary SupplementScholars of rock and roll still revere him for Awopbopaloobop, a passionate argument for the primacy of the three-minute pop song...A book ostensibly about popular music, but really about youth, innocence and rebellion
—— ObserverThe Hollywood Brats are the greatest band I’ve ever seen
—— Keith MoonBritain’s great lost punk band
—— Q-MagazineSo colourful, so comical, so damn bitchy... hilarious
—— Tony Fletcher , iJammingMatheson writes with the jagged verve he once sought from his band.
—— Kevin Canfield , Washington PostBiographical subject and author have found their perfect match.
—— Simon Shaw , Mail on SundayOne Man Band rumbles along… Welles in his middle years is a more engaging prospect than most artists at a similar point. He has been lucky to have Callow as a biographer, balancing warmth with skepticism, fondness with reproof.
—— Anthony Quinn , GuardianThis richly detailed and revelatory biography presents the most frank and intimate portrait yet of Ray Davies
—— CGA MagazineRogan does an excellent job of trying to work out what makes The Kinks’ enigmatic frontman tick whilst charting the tumultuous career of a band whose idiosyncratic but brilliant hits are currently enjoying a renaissance
—— Mail on SundayThis book is a good, solid, factually based read throughout… I imagine nearing six decades of recording history to be squeezed into one book is a task beyond the scope of a lot of authors, but this has been done rather well by Johnny Rogan… Excellent and complex.
—— Reg Seward , NudgeAn engaging and very accessible history book about our modern artistic achievements that, provocatively, also debunks some of the very icons it praises.
—— Simon Copeland , The Sun