You are indeed windswept and interesting, Mr Connelly, I love listening and watching your stories.

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

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell, Chapter 4

Read by Fred Sanders

From Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Will Bunch, the epic untold story of college—the great political and cultural fault line of American life

"This book is simply terrific." —Heather Cox Richardson, publisher of the "Letters from an American" Substack

"A must-read." —Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains

Today there are two Americas, separate and unequal, one educated and one not. And these two tribes—the resentful “non-college” crowd and their diploma-bearing yet increasingly disillusioned adversaries—seem on the brink of a civil war. The strongest determinant of whether a voter was likely to support Donald Trump in 2016 was whether or not they attended college, and the degree of loathing they reported feeling toward the so-called “knowledge economy of clustered, educated elites. Somewhere in the winding last half-century of the United States, the quest for a college diploma devolved from being proof of America’s commitment to learning, science, and social mobility into a kind of Hunger Games contest to the death. That quest has infuriated both the millions who got shut out and millions who got into deep debt to stay afloat.

In After the Ivory Tower Falls, award-winning journalist Will Bunch embarks on a deeply reported journey to the heart of the American Dream. That journey begins in Gambier, Ohio, home to affluent, liberal Kenyon College, a tiny speck of Democratic blue amidst the vast red swath of white, post-industrial, rural midwestern America. To understand “the college question,” there is no better entry point than Gambier, where a world-class institution caters to elite students amidst a sea of economic despair.

From there, Bunch traces the history of college in the U.S., beginning with the first technical schools, through the landmark GI Bill, and the culture wars of the 60’s and 70’s, which found their start on college campuses. We see how resentment of college-educated elites morphed into a rejection of knowledge itself—and how the explosion in student loan debt fueled major social movements like Occupy Wall Street. Bunch then takes a question we need to ask all over again—what, and who, is college even for?—and pushes it into the 21st century by proposing a new model that works for all Americans.

The sum total is a stunning work of journalism, one that lays bare the root of our political, cultural, and economic division—and charts a path forward for America.

After the Ivory Tower Falls by Will Bunch

Directed by James Burrows by James Burrows with Eddy Friedfeld, read by James Burrows

Listen to an excerpt from I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy, read by the author.

I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED Audiobook Excerpt

This week on the Penguin Podcast, Nihal Arthanayake talks to former journalist and best-selling novelist, Robert Harris.

Robert joins us to discuss his latest work of epic historical fiction, Act of Oblivion, out now in hardback.

He also discusses his observations on the static nature of history and humanity, how journalism informs his ability to write fiction, the potential of a simple idea to inform an entire novel, the irrationality of politics, and the UK’s shifting perspectives on the monarchy.


Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode, and do leave us a review as it really does help. To find out more about the #PenguinPodcast, visit https://www.penguin.co.uk/podcasts.html.

Robert Harris with Nihal Arthanayake

SCREWDRIVERED audiobook excerpt by Alice Clayton, read by Heather Smith 

SCREWDRIVERED Audiobook Excerpt 1

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah on Audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B01IW9TQPK&source_code=AUDORWS0920169IAD

Get this audiobook for free when you try Audible:
http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B01IW9TQPK&source_code=AUDORWS0920169IAD

Summary:

One of the comedy world's fastest-rising stars tells his wild coming-of-age story during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. Noah provides something deeper than traditional memoirists: powerfully funny observations about how farcical political and social systems play out in our lives.

Trevor Noah is the host of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, where he gleefully provides America with its nightly dose of serrated satire. He is a light-footed but cutting observer of the relentless absurdities of politics, nationalism, and race - and in particular the craziness of his own young life, which he's lived at the intersections of culture and history.

In his first book, Noah tells his coming-of-age story with his larger-than-life mother during the last gasps of apartheid-era South Africa and the turbulent years that followed. Noah was born illegal - the son of a white Dutch father and a black Xhosa mother, who had to pretend to be his nanny or his father's servant in the brief moments when the family came together. His brilliantly eccentric mother loomed over his life - a comically zealous Christian (they went to church six days a week and three times on Sunday), a savvy hustler who kept food on their table during rough times, and an aggressively involved, if often seriously misguided, parent who set Noah on his bumpy path to stardom.

The stories Noah tells are sometimes dark, occasionally bizarre, frequently tender, and always hilarious - whether he's subsisting on caterpillars during months of extreme poverty or making comically pitiful attempts at teenage romance in a color-obsessed world; whether he's being thrown into jail as the hapless fall guy for a crime he didn't commit or being thrown by his mother from a speeding car driven by murderous gangsters. 

Buy on Audible

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Narrated by Trevor Noah

A story of love and horror. Part 1 of 3.

Weather: "Riches and Wonders" by Eliza Rickman & Jherek Bischoff
http://elizarickman.com/ & http://jherekbischoff.com

ADDED USA TOUR DATES of "All Hail" (Apr 2018). 
Plus shows in Australia (Feb 2018)
http://welcometonightvale.com, click on live shows

Music for this episode: Joseph Fink
http://josephfink.bandcamp.com

Music for other episodes: Disparition
http://disparition.info

Logo: Rob Wilson
http://robwilsonwork.com

Written by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor. Narrated by Cecil Baldwin. 
http://welcometonightvale.com

Follow us on Twitter @NightValeRadio or Facebook.

Produced by Night Vale Presents. 
http://nightvalepresents.com

Welcome to Night Vale

121 - A Story of Love and Horror, Part 1: "Barks"

Carl Sagan - To The Sky

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

Buy 

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Read by Rob Inglis

Welcome to the Hodder & Stoughton Soundcloud, home of HodderPod, the Hodder Books Podcast. Keep checking back for our latest author interviews, audiobook extracts and previews.

Hodder is the UK publishing home of Jeffery Deaver, Stephen King, Jodi Picoult, Ray Mears, Alan Titchmarsh, Melvyn Bragg, David Mitchell and many more...

Hodder books are available from all good bookshops. Find your local bookshop here: http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch.aspx 

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

Hodder Books

Recent comments

User 177742960

Mary Christensen

Lisa Simmons

Amy Harris

Related tracks