CATEGORY PREVIEW: BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIRS
Never forget
Non-fiction buyer at Borders Guy Raphael previews
the best biography and memoir titles to be released
from September 2008 to March 2009
Predictably
enough, it’s
celebrity that
dominates the
final quarter lineup
once again.
Chat show hosts
are thick on the
ground with Ross,
Parkinson and the
artist formerly
known as Lily
Savage all destined
for top 10 slots.
Also prevalent are
big-money sequels, with second efforts from Gloria Hunniford,
Frank Skinner, Sheila Hancock and Richard Hammond just the
biggest examples of nervous publishers hoping that lightning does
strike twice.
One thing that can be relied on is the insatiable demand for
comedy memoirs. The astonishing hardback triumphs of Peter
Kay and Russell Brand are well documented but unlike many huge
sport and straight celebrity releases, they have also gone on to
enjoy superb paperback sales. With road-tested storytelling that
guarantees laughs, these are books that are bought to be read,
not just to commemorate a trophy win or pad out a Christmas list.
Stephen Fry’s Moab is my Washpot is a classic case in point, still
riding high in the paperback charts years after publication.
Elsewhere in 2008, misery memoir sales have slowed
significantly, not that you’d guess from looking at the new release
schedules which they continue to dominate. The market is
oversaturated for sure, but I don’t think we’ve seen the end of this
particular publishing bonanza just yet. It’s more likely we’re just
one slight genre twist away from another boom. I shudder to think
what form this will take.
As ever, we shouldn’t let all the misery and those headlinegrabbing
celebs blind us to the wonderful writing and genuine
sales opportunities that are somewhat hidden in their shade. Here
are some of the highlights for the next six months . . .
Big sellers
Michael
Parkinson
My Autobiography
Hodder, October, £20,
9780340961667
He got to
interview just
about everybody
over the course
of his 40-year career (apparently
Frank Sinatra was the only one
that got away) so you know
there will be no shortage of
material to draw on. He was also
an award-winning journalist so
you know this will be a quality
read. Add in the huge reserves
of goodwill that the newly
knighted Parky continues to
generate and the enormous
campaign that Hodder will
mount, and you’ve got just
about the biggest book of the
season. Let’s just hope he
goes easy on the Dickie Bird
anecdotes!
Jonathan Ross
Why Do I Say These
Things?
Bantam Press, October,
£18.99,
9780593060827
Wossy may
have inherited
Parky’s
BBC1 slot but the younger
man’s style could not
be more different: the
urbane conversation of the
Yorkshireman replaced by a
lascivious irreverence that
30 The Bookseller | 15 August 2008 www.thebookseller.com
certainly isn’t for everyone.
But then, that Marmite lovehim-or-hate-him
factor didn’t
do Russell Brand any harm
last year. And as with Brand,
the smut does not completely
conceal a razor-sharp intellect
at work. I expect only a cursory
run-through of Ross’ life and
career, leaving plenty of space
for tangential digressions on
all manner of matters comedic.
He could push Parkinson all
the way.
Paul O’Grady
At My Mother’s
Knee . . . And Other
Lewd Joints
Bantam Press,
September, £18.99,
9780593059258
Transworld have
stratospheric
sales targets for O’Grady’s
life story but the bawdy drag
act turned chat show host has
the common touch, which in
autobiographical terms often
equates to the Midas touch. As
the title suggests, this memoir
will follow his story from the
noisy Birkenhead childhood,
through the difficult teenage
years and on to his “escape” to
the rough London clubs where
Lily Savage was born. The final
chapters recount the surprising
crossover of the “blonde
bombsite” into the mainstream,
the decision to kill off Lily and
O’Grady’s eventual coronation
as the king of daytime TV.
Dawn French
Dear Fatty
Century, October,
£18.99,
9781846053443
French has
plenty of material
to mine for
her memoir:
starting out from her West
Country childhood, through
ground-breaking alternative
comedy with The Comic
Strip and on to the massive
successes of “Girls on Top”,
“French and Saunders” and
“The Vicar of Dibley”. And
it’s the phenomenal success
of “Dibley” that will do most
to ensure that Dear Fatty is a
huge hit this Christmas. More
than 12.3 million television
viewers tuned in for the final
episode and a launch campaign
tapping into French’s “national
treasure” belovedness will
ensure a bumper conversion
rate into book sales.
Ones to watch
Mark Frith
The Celeb Diaries:
The Sensational
Inside Story of the
Celebrity Decade
Ebury, September,
£18.99,
9780091927981
As ex-editor of
Heat magazine,
no one has been closer to the
epicentre of our celebrityobsessed
culture than Mark
Frith. His private diaries
promise to dish the behind-thescenes
dirt on Britney, Paris,
Jade Goody and a myriad of
other cultural luminaries. Frith
himself is a genial and very
marketable presence so huge
media attention is a cert. Ebury
scored a massive gossipy hit
with Piers Morgan and I think
it has backed another winner
here.
Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner on
the Road
Century,
October, £18.99,
9781844131907
I approached
this with some
trepidation.
Skinner’s first eponymous
memoir had a lifetime of
material and well-honed standup
routines to call on. It was
a runaway smash. This diary
of Skinner’s recent comeback
tour initially seemed much
less promising in prospect.
However, despite one or two
indulgent passages, I have
been pleasantly surprised by
On the Road. Similarly to Steve
Martin’s autobiography last
year, Skinner really nails the
desperation and exhilaration of
stand up. Unlike Steve Martin,
he remains unspeakably filthy!
The DVD of the tour is released
to coincide with publication.
Ion Trewin (ed)
The Hugo Young
Papers
Allen Lane, November,
£30,
9781846140549
During his 35year
career as
senior political
correspondent for the Sunday
Times and the Guardian,
Hugo Young knew everybody,
heard everything and, it now
transpires, wrote it all down
in his private papers. This
should be a fascinating, no-
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