I finally got around to reading the first part of Alexei's autobiography.

I found it more interesting than I thought it would be. Alexei is a gifted storyteller and makes even unfunny things funny. ( )

I finally got around to reading the first part of Alexei's autobiography.

(You can read my review of the second part, Thatcher Stole My Trousers, here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2196567171?book_show_action=false&from... ).

I found it more interesting than I thought it would be. Alexei is a gifted storyteller and makes even unfunny things funny. ( )

Having parents who took me to 1980s Poland (just before martial law was declared in 1981!) and Czechoslovakia in 1982 this brought back many memories. Particularly the tour of the Heydrich assasination sites in Prague, although I found it more interesting than young Alexei...

My parents were not hard-core British Communist Party members, and this aspect of Alexei's upbringing I found particularly interesting, especially their responses to Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.

The book is slow in a number of places and I found the last 40 or so pages less interesting than the earlier ones, however this account of 1960s and 70s Britain reflects accurately some of the conflict and dogma that dominated the politics of the period.


Some non UK readers will find aspects less easy to follow, but UK readers should find some resonances with their lives in the 60s and 70s. ( )

Pleasant, witty, self-deprecating memoir of a childhood unimaginable today. ( )

I loved this book. Like (my memories of) Sayle's comedy routines, it takes some unusual routes to explain growing up in Liverpool's Anfield. It made me laugh out loud. Having spent some time in Liverpool some of the comments (hard hippies) made me nod in recognition, and his memories of being a child amongst adults are fascinating. I loved his willingness to mock himself, too. Accounts of trips across Europe and being an angsty teenager in pubs pursued by (more popular) parents were highlights for me. ( )