> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 30 August 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241483756
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $26.00
Categories:

Odd Boy Out

The 'hilarious, eye-popping, unforgettable' Sunday Times bestseller





The long-awaited autobiography from the man who's been at the heart of the entertainment establishment for 50 years

In Odd Boy Out Gyles Brandreth provides an extraordinarily revealing account of growing up and coming of age in an apparently well-to-do but always strapped-for-cash middle-class English family.

By turns hilarious and moving, and chock full of unforgettable stories, Odd Boy Out is the unexpected and candid autobiography of one of the country's most unlikely personalities. Yet at root it is a powerful and passionate exploration of childhood - how our heritage, our parents and our upbringing make us who we are.

  • Published: 30 August 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241483756
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $26.00
Categories:

About the author

Gyles Brandreth

A former Oxford Scholar, President of the Oxford Union and MP for the City of Chester, Gyles Brandreth's varied career has ranged from being a Whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in John Major's government to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London's West End. A prolific broadcaster, an acclaimed interviewer (principally for the Sunday Telegraph), a novelist, children's author and biographer, his best-selling diary, Breaking the Code, was described by The Times as 'By far the best political diary of recent years, far more perceptive and revealing than Alan Clark's'. For twenty-five years he has been involved in the work of the National Playing Fields Association, whose Patron is the Queen and whose President is the Duke of Edinburgh. He lives with his family in London.

Also by Gyles Brandreth

See all

Praise for Odd Boy Out

Brilliant pen portraits of his father and myriad friends present a framework for Gyles's contemplation of his extraordinary life. Light-hearted and dark events alike are described with his customary deceptively jaunty style, making them funny, moving, and sometimes deeply shocking

Sheila Hancock

Staggeringly brilliant, funny and touching, I loved it

Joanna Lumley

A hilarious and revealing account of growing up and coming of age in an apparently well-to-do but always strapped-for-cash middle-class English family

Eastern Daily Press

He's cheery, fun and has a fabulous grasp of the English language, so Gyles Brandreth's autobiography makes for a scintillating read. His hilarious - and sometimes moving - account of his life from early childhood days through to the adult world of politics and television is candid. It is also a story around his everyday family life, and about happiness, ambition and love. It offers a fascinating insight into a portrait of Britain, too

People's Friend Magazine

Hilarious, ribald, eye-popping, unforgettable, will make you laugh out loud

Daily Mail

Warm, witty, charming. A moving and very affectionate family history. An enthusiast for life

The Times

A magnificent raconteur. A witty account of a most unusual life

Independent

A fabulous raconteur with a great many tricks up his sleeve. His infectious zest for life means he has a story for almost every well-known person you can think of

Daily Telegraph

Hugely enjoyable. Engaging

Choice Magazine

A whirlwind of witticisms and of funny tales, both short and tall . . . 'I feel I have lived my life in a magic garden where the sun is always shining' he writes, and in Odd Boy Out he offers us yet another glimpse of that bright, shining sun

Mail on Sunday