And Away... [9781398505292]

The long-awaited first autobiography by national treasure Bob Mortimer.

Bob Mortimer's life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him, but forced him to reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for his hilarious and moving memoir, And Away...

Although his childhood in Middlesbrough was normal on the surface, it was tinged by the loss of his dad, and his own various misadventures (now infamous from his appearances on Would I Lie to You?), from burning down the family home to starting a short-lived punk band called Dog Dirt. As an adult, he trained as a solicitor and moved to London. Though he was doing pretty well (the South London Press once crowned him 'The Cockroach King' after a successful verdict), a chance encounter in a pub in the 1980s with a young comedian going by the name Vic Reeves set his life on a different track. And now, six years on, the heart condition that once threatened his career has instead led to new success on BBC2's Gone Fishing.

Warm, profound, and irrepressibly funny, And Away... is Bob's full life story (with a few lies thrown in for good measure.)

AUTHOR: Bob Mortimer was born in Middlesbrough in 1959, the youngest of four sons. He trained as a solicitor before a chance encounter with Vic Reeves in the 1980s led to a successful career in comedy as half of duo Reeves and Mortimer. His screen credits include Shooting Stars, Big Night Out, Catterick and most recently BBC2's Gone Fishing. He's on Twitter and Instagram as @RealBobMortimer.

BOOK OF THE MONTH: 

Sept '21

"We decided to pick Bob Mortimer’s And Away… as our BoTM because we love Bob’s anarchic comedy, and his self-effacing endearing fishing buffoonery on the smash BBC TV series Gone Fishing.

And Away gives us a look at his early life which was profoundly affected by bereavement, his struggle to find a career he loved (a problem solved when he met Vic Reeves at a comedy club,) and the more recent, joyful partnership with Paul Whitehouse.

If you’ve ever watched Bob on “Would I Lie To You” you already know he can tell a story. We can’t wait to see what he has to say here.

Is Bob an expert fisherman? No. Does he fall over quite a lot? Yes. Do we want to know all about him? Yes we do."