The funny, frank and full autobiography of the nation's favourite comedian.

It's the first time I've done this. Other people have written about me - or for me - but this time it's just my own life in my own words.

In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life.

Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of four, and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds.

Billy found his escape first as an apprentice welder in the shipyards of the River Clyde. Later he became a folk musician - a 'rambling man' - with a genuine talent for playing the banjo. But it was his ability to spin stories, tell jokes and hold an audience in the palm of his hand that truly set him apart.

As a young comedian Billy broke all the rules. He was fearless and outspoken - willing to call out hypocrisy wherever he saw it. But his stand-up was full of warmth, humility and silliness too. His startling, hairy 'glam-rock' stage appearance - wearing leotards, scissor suits and banana boots - only added to his appeal.

It was an appearance on Michael Parkinson's chat show in 1975 - and one outrageous story in particular - that catapulted Billy from cult hero to national star. TV shows, documentaries, international fame and award-winning Hollywood movies followed. Billy's pitch-perfect stand-up comedy kept coming too - for over 50 years, in fact - until a double diagnosis of cancer and Parkinson's Disease brought his remarkable live performances to an end. Since then he has continued making TV shows, creating extraordinary drawings...and writing.

Windswept & Interesting is Billy's story in his own words. It is joyfully funny - stuffed full of hard-earned wisdom as well as countless digressions on fishing, farting and the joys of dancing naked. It is an unforgettable, life-affirming story of a true comedy legend.

I didn't know I was windswept and interesting until somebody told me. It was a friend who was startlingly exotic himself. He'd just come back from Kashmir and was all billowy shirt and Indian beads. I had long hair and a beard and was swishing around in electric blue flairs.

He said: 'Look at you - all windswept and interesting!'

I just said: 'Exactly!'

After that, I simply had to maintain my reputation....

Buy audiobook

WINDSWEPT & INTERESTING by Billy Connolly, read by Billy Connolly - audiobook extract

Two stories: a short one about a girl and her brother; a longer one about a girl and her face.

Subscribe in iTunes (itunes.com/truestory) or check out www.truestorytime.org

Subscribe in iTunes

Please Be With My Face

Magdalena Baxter is pregnant and on the road with her abusive miner husband Oswald in Mystic Montana Sky by Debra Holland. When Caleb Livingston’s buggy collides with the Baxters’ caravan, Oswald is killed and Maggie goes into labor. Caleb sets his guilt aside long enough to help Maggie deliver her baby, an experience that bonds them more than either could’ve anticipated.  Get your copy here. http://po.st/hotqpn


New Book Release - Seconds To Live By Melinda Leigh

Turkey's leading female novelist Elif Shafak discusses her novel The Forty Rules of Love.

The novel is about finding love and is written in two strands. One is the friendship between a whirling dervish and the Sufi poet Rumi in 13th century Anatolia; the other is about a mother in contemporary America who finds inspiration in the historical story to break away from an unhappy life.

Amazingly, Elif wrote the book in English, which she first learnt at the age of ten. She then worked with professional translators to write it again in Turkish.

Elif Shafak explains the importance of Sufi mysticism in the novel and in her life. She talks about the influence of her grandmother's superstitions, about the transformation of modern Turkey and how she was prosecuted - and acquitted - in 2006 for 'denigrating Turkish national identity' because of her writing.

First published in 2010, The Forty Rules of Love has now been translated into over 30 languages.

James Naughtie presents and a group of readers ask the questions.


May's Bookclub choice : Ice by Gillian Clarke

Producer : Dymphna Flynn. Published on April 7, 2013.

Elif Shafak - The Forty Rules of Love

With James Naughtie. Celebrated Irish writer John Banville discusses his novel The Sea which won the Man Booker prize in 2005.

In The Sea, middle-aged art historian Max Morden loses his wife to cancer and is compelled to go back to the seaside resort where he spent childhood holidays. It is also a return to the place where he met the Graces, the well-heeled family with whom he experienced the strange suddenness of both love and death for the first time.

John Banville talks about the power of revisiting places from childhood, how he wanted to be a painter as a teenager but found he had no talent. He explains how he painstakingly writes his novels over many years, creating sentence after sentence, but in the end he always feels the book is an embarrassment and a failure, and that he must move on to the next novel. 

May's Bookclub choice is The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.

Producer : Dymphna Flynn. Published on April 6, 2014.

John Banville - The Sea

An exciting, non-traditional approach to language learning with the easy, relaxed appeal of an audio-only product.

No books. No rote memorisation. No chance of failure. 

 This download contains the entire course:

Part 1
• Language ground rules
• The use of the past tense
• Finding French words used in English
• Asking questions
• Essential vocabulary to use when booking into a hotel, taking a taxi, and eating out.

Part 2
• Useful vocabulary at the tourist office
• Asking for directions
• Where you are from and what you do
• Pronunciation

Part 3
• Practice and revision
• Vocabulary for conversing with a doctor
• Masculine and feminine
• The present and future tense

Course Review
The course review offers a very useful opportunity to revise the full course and practise what you have learnt. A native-speaking French expert helps you to perfect your pronunciation. Learn over 6,000 words in no time at all and learn how to make your new vocabulary work for you.
A downloadable booklet is also included to use as a reference and revision tool.

A more in-depth course for those looking to improve their language skills, with over 12 hours of audio and handy written revision guide to reinforce your learning.

Learn French with Paul Noble – Complete Course: French made easy with your personal language coach, By Paul Noble, Read by Paul Noble

BAFTA winning Director Ken Loach joins us for What make us Human. Feb 21, 2017

Ken Loach: What make us Human?

“Hopefully readers of The Escape will be scared to be in their own home.” 

CL Taylor is the Sunday Times bestselling author of psychological thrillers. Her fourth book, The Escape, publishes in March 2017 and already people are raving about it:

“C.L.Taylor is a class act and The Escape is gem of a book” – SIMON TOYNE
“Absorbing and disturbing” – ALEX MARWOOD
“Definitely CL Taylor’s best yet” – LISA HALL

Here she discusses her fascination with how people respond to fear, why you should never set a book in your own home, and her top tips for aspiring writers.

C L Taylor: "Write the book that makes you cry, fall in love or scares you"

The award-winning novelist explains to a Guardian Live audience why he picked a foetus as narrator of his latest novel, Nutshell

Ian McEwan on his novel Nutshell – books podcast

As part of a series of readings to celebrate publication of le Carré’s memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, David Harewood reads from the 1968 novel A Small Town in Germany, in which Alan Turner investigates the mysterious disappearance of a foreign office worker in the West German Capital, Bonn

David Harewood reads from A Small Town in Germany by John le Carré – books podcast

As the Booker prize announces a shortlist that’s long on surprises, we talk to Deborah Levy and assess the contenders for this year’s award

Deborah Levy and the Booker shortlist – books podcast

Welcome to BookD, the podcast that brings you the stories behind your favourite books. Created by your host, Tanya Brennand-Roper, this is your opportunity to listen in and get to know the who's who in one of the biggest London publishing houses, offering a fascinating perspective into the authors, their editors and the all important publishing process.
Tune into our fortnightly program where we exchange ideas with the stars of literature, art, film, music and politics. BookD isn't boring or monotonous and it isn't like any other podcast you've heard before. For culture, ideas, humour and debate - you're BookD.

C L Taylor: "Write the book that makes you cry, fall in love or scares you"

BookD Podcast

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