Book description
Fast approaching his fortieth birthday, Andrew is cornered at a
family gathering by the nine-year-old son of his brother-in-law's
sister. Having seen him as a talking head on TV, the boy asks, 'What
are you?' It is a question so frank and simple that Andrew doesn't
have an immediate answer to hand.
So, with hilarious self-deprecation, he sets out to retrace how he
got to where he is today. Seventeen precarious jobs in seventeen
years: from trolley collector at Sainsbury's to high-flying film
critic sipping cocktails with Will Smith and Jerry Bruckheimer on a
yacht in Cannes. This is Andrew's tale of rubbing shoulders with the
world's biggest stars: pissing off Christini Ricci, having his
hairstyle mocked by Noel Gallagher, trying not to wake Clive James
from his afternoon nap, having his apple pie eaten by Bob Geldof, and
somehow stumbling into the next dream job.
Along the way, he's been the world's worst gossip columnist, an
almost-hip young gunslinger at the NME, a Radio 1 DJ (enduring
a hellish Radio 1 roadshow in a car park in Birmingham), an ITV
presenter, EastEnders scriptwriter, ghost writer for a major TV
personality and much, much more. It charts a world of hedonism,
mundanity, towering egos, shallow idiocy and occasional moments of
mind-blowing joy. And, of course, being sent shit in a box.
Collins' easygoing charm is hard to resist - a welcome visitor into
any home that houses a Nick Hornby or a Tony Parsons The Herald All
recounted in a wittily self-deprecating style. As good an insight into
magazine life as you'll get Q Magazine 20070601 Entertaining from start
to finish OK! 20070505 It's Almost Famous for grown-ups. Witty music
journo Collins describes a life of rubbing shoulders with the stars Zoo
20070525 A punchy self-help book for aspiring journalists The Times
Andrew Collins was born in Northampton. He has written for
NME,
Q,
Select
,
Observer
,
New Statesman
,
Word
,
Guardian
and
Radio Times
. He won a Sony Gold award for
Collins & Maconie's Hit Parade
on Radio 1, hosted Radio 4's weekly film programme
Back Row
, presents his show on BBC 6 Music, fronts
The Day The Music Died
on Radio 2 and co-presented
Collins & Maconie's Movie Club
on ITV. His first sitcom,
Grass
, written with Simon Day, aired on BBC2 in 2003. He is married with cats
and lives in London.
