Life and Laughing: My Story by Michael McIntyre

The great thing about this book is that it’s exactly what you hoped it would be. I find that there’s always a slight caution when expressing excitement that your favourite comedian has written an autobiography, for fear that there won’t be any comedy, and the man you laugh hysterically at is in fact grumpy, grouchy and terribly miserably. Thankfully this is not the case for Mr McIntyre. He somehow managed to recreate his comedy acts to describe his life in writing. His on stage charm is reinvented to suit the requirements of an autobiography, but maintains the wit, charm and flamboyancy he is known and loved for.

I often find that celebrity autobiographies are badly written, as though the celebs and publishers alike both know that the book is going to sell well because of who they are, so the content doesn’t really matter. Again this is not the case for Michael McIntyre’s autobiography. Obviously the text is not a literary masterpiece, but it does flow and it is engaging. It’s like having a long conversation, at times McIntyre goes off on a tangent, and he adds funny little snippets in all over the place, but it works. It was so good that I had read the book from cover to cover in less than 48 hours, this is especially impressive given that over Christmas there aren’t many free hours in a day.

But do not be deceived. This is not a book of comedy that, aside from a few childhood incidents, retells the joys of a successful comedian living an affluent lifestyle. In fact the book ends as McIntyre becomes successful. This is a book about a man that spent years working towards his dreams, trying to reach his ambitions. This book might be entertaining, but it is also inspiring. Ten out of ten for the nations favourite funny man.

Life and Laughing: My Story by Michael McIntyre, published by Michael Joseph (imprint of Penguin) is available now.

A Time for Reflection

Happy new year everyone, I hope 2011 brings you health, happiness and prosperity. I always feel very reflective at this time of year. I find it's a good time to reflect on the year gone by, to consider those things we did well and the memories we made to cherish, but to learn from the mistakes we inevitably made as well. I also like to look ahead and think about all the things I want to achieve in the year ahead, from the simple, to the ambitious, to the insignificant.
I hope you all enjoyed your new year celebrations: I have just lit two chinese lanterns with my family :)
With best wishes for the year ahead.... x

One Foot Wrong by Sofie Laguna

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I received a copy of this book, but it certainly wasn’t what I got. It was better. This novel is unlike anything I have read before. It is uniquely captivating. It is so well written that from the very first sentence I was Hester’s head, seeing and experiencing things through her eyes, rather from the eyes of the omniscient narrator.

It is difficult to accurately describe Hester, not because Laguna has forgotten to include such details, but because Hester does not notice physicalities. It initially seems that Hester was born with disabilities that mean she sees the world in a way entirely unlike the average adult (whatever average may mean). But as the novel continues is becomes apparent that Hester is the product of a deranged mother and an abusive father, whom she calls Boot and Sack, and a society that continually fails her.

Perhaps the best way to depict the genius of Laguna’s prose is to provide you with an extract. I’ve chosen the very first paragraph so as not to reveal too much of the plot.

I slept at the feet of Boot and Sack. My one small bed went longways across the end of their big one. If I turned my head in the night and the moon was shining through, I could see the hill of Boot’s feet beside my face. Sack’s feet I couldn’t see but I knew they were there – no shoes, tipper-over and sleeping.

Yet despite the simplicities and abnormalities of Hester’s mind, Laguna manages to incorporate prose that subtly informs us that Hester is not as stupid as her parents believe, and is capable of feeling far more than they will ever realise. In addition Laguna cleverly reveals the reasons behind Hester’s differences.

Yellow wool wrapped itself around Cat’s black paws; she rolled onto her back, wool curled around her tum. It went round and around until Cat was in a yellow tangle. Every way she moved she tangled more. Cat was playing like the children at Christ’s feet when he made a visit to the marketplace in The Abridged Picture Bible.

As the plot thickens Hester is seemingly offered an escape in the form of school during which time, despite the cruelty of many of her classmates, she manages to nurture a friendship. Unfortunately for Hester her luck does not last, and soon her life takes a much more sinister path.

Not only does Laguna successful portray the thoughts and feelings of a young girl to whom society all too often turns a blind eye, she highlights inadequacies in society’s treatment of those with disabilities. This is a book that whilst revealing horrors, also finds sublime innocence. It is a unique, fascinating read.

One Foot Wrong has been nominated for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction.
One Foot Wrong by Sofie Laguna, published by Allison & Busby is available now.

Season's Greetings

I have been such a bad blogger! Time has been flying by so quickly that I didn't realise it had been over a month since my last post. I hope you have all been enjoying the festive season and I will be back in action in the New Year with lots of juicey literary titbits for you to feast on.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Green Books

Whilst scrolling through the many publishing related newsletters that land in my inbox everyday, I noticed the latest research carried out by the Rainforest Action Network. They recently conducted research on which children's publishers are most committed to rainforest protection, and have now published a simple guide based on these findings. According to their sources Hachette, Penguin, Simon and Schuster, Scholastic, Macmillan and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are all recommended. That is that these publishers 'are committed to the protection of Indonesia's forests, and forests worldwide. They have committed to phasing out controversial Indonesian fiber and suppliers APP and APRIL until reforms are achieved and have a comprehensive environmental paper policy or a commitment to create one'. Random House and Sterling Publishing recieved 'can do better' labels as although they are committed to improving paper practices, they have not committed to avoiding controversial suppliers. On the other hand, Disney, HarperCollins and Candlewick Press were all tarnished with the 'avoid' label as they have 'no commitment to protecting Indonesia's or other endangered rainforests. They do not have public, environmental paper policies'.

This got me thinking about how green I am with my book choices. I'd like to think I do my bit environmentally; I recycle papers, plastics, tins, glass and food waste; I have a garden waste compost bin, I buy my milk from the milk man (with glass bottles and an electric delivery float), I always buy recycled notebooks, cards and so forth. But when it comes to books it would seem I'm pretty ignorant.

I began by consulting my trusty friend Google, about publishers using recycled paper and I came across this rather interesting report from Eco-Libris.

Number of new titles published annually in the U.S.: 172,000

Number of books produced annually in the U.S.: 4.15 billion

Number of books sold annually in the U.S.: 3.09 billion

Annual net sales of books in the U.S.: $23.9 billion

Annual net sales of e-Books in the U.S.: $313 million

Annual Revenue of  European Book publishers: Euro 22.3 billion

Number of book publishers in the U.S.: over 80,000

Top 5 Book Formats: Trade paperback (35%), Hardcover (35%), Mass market paperback (21%), Audio (2%), E-book (2%), Other (5%).

Number of U.S. book publishers who signed the Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper Use initiated by the Green Press Initative to improve their ecological footprint: about 250

Market share of publishers with environmental policies in place and goals for increasing their recycled/FSC-certified paper usage: about half.

The number of trees that are cut down annually to produce the books sold in the U.S.: more than 30 million.

Percentage of recycled paper currently used by U.S. book publishers in the production of books: 5-10%

The carbon footprint of a book: 8.85 lbs, in cardbon dioxide terms.

The total carbon footprint of the book publishing industry: 12.4 million metric tons.

The biggest contributor to the industries footprint: using virgin paper.