The instant Sunday Times bestselling hilarious and honest new memoir
'One of the funniest books I have ever read' HADLEY FREEMAN‘A masterpiece’ SATHNAM SANGHERA'The read of the summer' THE SUNDAY TIMES'Brilliant … funny and moving' ADAM KAY
'One of the funniest books I have ever read' HADLEY FREEMAN
‘A masterpiece’ SATHNAM SANGHERA
'The read of the summer' THE SUNDAY TIMES
'Brilliant … funny and moving' ADAM KAY
A searingly honest, funny and moving family memoir in which David Baddiel exposes his mother’s idiosyncratic sex life, and his father’s dementia, to the same affectionate scrutiny.
On the surface, David Baddiel’s childhood was fairly standard: a lower-middle-class Jewish family living in an ordinary house in Dollis Hill, north-west London. But David came to realise that his mother was in fact not ordinary at all. Having escaped extermination by fleeing Nazi Germany as a child, she was desperate to make her life count, which took the form of a passionate, decades-long affair with a golfing memorabilia salesman. David’s detailing of the affair – including a hilarious focus on how his mother turned their household over to golf memorabilia, and an eye-popping cache of her erotic writings – leads to the inescapable conclusion that Sarah Baddiel was a cross between Jack Niklaus and Erica Jong.
Meanwhile, as Baddiel investigates his family’s past, his father’s memories are fading; dementia is making him moodier and more disinhibited, with an even greater penchant for obscenity. As with his mother’s affair, there is both comedy and poignancy to be found: laughter is a constant presence, capable of transforming the darkest of experiences into something redemptive.
My Family: The Memoir is David Baddiel’s candid examination of his childhood, family and memory offering a twisted love letter to his parents.
'An extraordinary, hilarious book' OBSERVER
‘I lost count of how many times I gasped’ CAITLIN MORAN
'Outrageously funny…profoundly thoughtful' THE SUNDAY TIMES
'Explosively funny, brilliantly written' DAVID WALLIAMS
'Infernally funny' HOWARD JACOBSON
‘A triumph’ NINA STIBBE
'Baddiel has done his parents proud’ GUARDIAN
'Had me howling' PANDORA SYKES
'Baddiel writes with a comic’s fluency and timing … In giving us the full, unvarnished picture, Baddiel has done his parents proud’ Guardian
'Outrageously funny…profoundly thoughtful' The Sunday Times
'A joy from beginning to end; beautifully written, deeply moving, incredible funny' Daily Mail
'Devastating and gaspingly funny, often in the same sentence … David Baddiel is so good at everything he does, he's at risk of becoming a national treasure' Hadley Freeman, author of House of Glass
'Such an extraordinary, hilarious book' Observer
‘Explosively funny, brilliantly written, David’s family story becomes more and more incredible with every page’ David Walliams, author of Astrochimp
‘As dark as it is funny … Baddiel has made true art out of experience, I don't know how he does it. A masterpiece’ Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireworld
'A must-read, must-buy. Laugh out loud funny – and moving. The read of the summer' The Sunday Times
'Candid, playful … an entertaining, bawdy memoir' Independent
'This book is WAY WAY WAY TOO MUCH in all the best ways. I lost count of how many times I gasped’ Caitlin Moran, author of What About Men?
‘Brilliant. As funny and moving as you’d imagine – actually, more so’ Adam Kay, author of Undoctored
'Had me howling' Pandora Sykes, author of How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?
'Infernally funny' Howard Jacobson, author of What Will Survive of Us
‘A triumph, a treat, a love letter to unconventional family members!’ Nina Stibbe, author of Went to London, Took the Dog
‘This word, “amazing”, pretty much sums up Baddiel’s memoir; likewise “jaw-dropping”…wincingly funny, but always pointedly fond’ iPaper
'Deeply funny and intensely moving' Dani Shapiro, author of Signal Fires
David Baddiel was born in 1964 in Troy, New York, but grew up and lives in London. He is a comedian, television writer, columnist and author. His children's books have sold more than a million copies in the UK alone, and his debut, The Parent Agency, won the Laugh Out Loud Book Award. David lives in London with his family.
This item is eligible for simple returns within 30 days of delivery. Return shipping is the responsibility of the customer. See our returns policy for further details.
