Book 19 - John Cooper Clarke "The Luckiest Guy Alive"

John Cooper Clarke "The Luckiest Guy Alive" (Picador)





I found this somewhat disappointing, I'm afraid. Would certainly be better as an audiobook, or better yet a live performance, however, on the page, the Bard of Salford failed to maintain interest. There were a couple of verbal flourishes which hit the mark, but also, if I'm not mistaken, there was a whiff of both homophobia ("Your Metrosexual Ex") and transphobia ("Crossing the Floor"). I'd hope to be mistaken about Clarke's intent in those poems, but the others didn't take away the bad taste of those two.

Book 20 - Wendy Jones "Grayson Perry: Portrait of The Artist As a Young Girl"

Wendy Jones "Grayson Perry: Portrait of The Artist As a Young Girl" (Vintage)





I don't know how familiar Grayson Perry is to people outside the UK, but here he is a well-known ceramic artist, who was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003 and who has presented a number of critically acclaimed programmes on TV and radio including the 2013 Reith Lectures. Of course, what everyone in the UK knows best about Grayson Perry is that he is a transvestite, frequently appearing as his alter ego Claire: a rather overgrown and middle-aged small girl wearing a frilly frock and with a bow in her hair.

So this book (narrated by Grayson to Wendy Jones) tells the story of his life from his early childhood through school and art college to the time in his early twenties when he first discovered that pottery was for him. And to be honest it's not really a childhood or adolescence that you would wish on anyone: he mentions that he is estranged from his parents as an adult and it's clear why. From the time that his parents' marriage collapsed when his mother discovered that she was pregnant by the milkman (I thought that only happened in sitcoms) to being told by his violent and abusive stepfather not to come back when he left for college at the age of 18, there was certainly very little love or support shown by either parent. The portrait of his mother makes me wonder, not for the first time, why some people have children and then spend the rest of their lives being so uninterested in them


And of course, Grayson's childhood was complicated by his growing realisation of his transvestism: not a very acceptable lifestyle choice for adolescents in an Essex town in the 1970's. And, to be honest, it's not a lifestyle that I'd previously given much thought to, so this part was quite enlightening, to say the least.

Overall, an honest and thought-provoking memoir, from someone who always comes over as being an honest and likeable person. A fascinating book that is worth reading.