Book description
Spike Milligan's legendary war memoirs are a hilarious and subversive
first-hand account of the Second World War, as well as a fascinating
portrait of the formative years of this towering comic genius, most
famous as writer and star of The Goon Show. They have sold over 4. 5
million copies since they first appeared.
'The most irreverent, hilarious book about the war that I have ever
read' Sunday Express
'Brilliant verbal pyrotechnics, throwaway lines and marvelous
anecdotes' Daily Mail
'Desperately funny, vivid, vulgar' Sunday Times
'I had not informed my parents of my return, I wanted it to be a
lovely surprise; it was, for me, they were away ...'
The seventh and last volume of Spike Milligan's memoirs sees our
hero returning from war and Italy ... but to what? Aside from shooting
large, inaccurate guns at Germans, all he has done for five long years
is blow a trumpet, tell rude jokes and write and perform sketches for
the entertainment of bored and murderous soldiers - who on earth is
going to pay a civilian to do more of that? From the giddy heights of
Hackney Empire to a Zurich Freak Show and beyond, Spike makes his way
through the backwaters of showbiz, first as band musician then as
one-man wild-act and eventually in the company of a group of
like-minded comedians called Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Peter
Sellers. They decide to call themselves The Goons...
'That absolutely glorious way of looking at things differently. A
great man' Stephen Fry
'Milligan is the Great God to all of us' John Cleese
'The Godfather of Alternative Comedy' Eddie Izzard
'Manifestly a genius, a comic surrealist genius and had no equal'
Terry Wogan
'A totally original comedy writer' Michael Palin
'Close in stature to Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear in his command of
the profound art of nonsense' Guardian
Spike Milligan was one of the greatest and most influential
comedians of the twentieth century. Born in India in 1918, he served
in the Royal Artillery during WWII in North Africa and Italy. At the
end of the war, he forged a career as a jazz musician, sketch-show
writer and performer, before joining forces with Peter Sellers and
Harry Secombe to form the legendary Goon Show. Until his death in
2002, he had success as on stage and screen and as the author of over
eighty books of fiction, memoir, poetry, plays, cartoons and
children's stories.
