Odd Boy Out: The hilarious and unforgettable Sunday Times bestselling autobiography

A brilliant book

I bought the book as it was Gyles Brandreth's autobiography. It is an illuminating incite into his development and character but ultimately I did not feel that I connected to him as a person. It was more resembled the persona I knew from, mostly, radio. Having said that, he is most erudite and amusing.

Funny and interesting

Enjoyed this read.

I’ll start by stating the obvious – something that we have known for decades: Gyles Brandreth is clever, witty and entertaining. No doubt about that.It was therefore with eager anticipation that I bought this autobiography. I was looking forward to glimpsing the man behind the theatrical mask. What deep experiences and soul-searching had produced a person of such seeming self-confidence? What aspects of early life had led by chance to his celebrity? Was he a shy boy who found himself stage-front and discovered he could do it? Was he motivated by insecurity, empathy, love, regret, passion, altruism… ?The answer is: none of the above. It really does seem that, with Gyles, what you see is what you get…. a talented, supremely confident, self-absorbed, smiley person who is motivated chiefly by his own instincts and desires.Of course, within the genre this was a “professional” autobiography and so the endless name-dropping and all-about-me anecdotes can be largely forgiven. I just wish that this had been made clear. Halfway through, I thought I would choke on yet another famous person who just happened to come across Gyles’ path. I am afraid not one of my old school friends, university chums, next-door neighbours, chance encounters or teachers were in any sense celebrities. It seems that Gyles never met or spoke to anyone who didn’t have a Wikipedia entry, or indeed a mention in Debretts. His passage through childhood and youth was largely dictated by parents who lived lives of constant stress and debt in order to place him on a path of privilege.I have to confess to a bit of skim-reading. I guess all autobiographies are a bit self-indulgent – but this one takes the biscuit. There was a bit of soul-searching around mother and father, but it seems that the insight was a bit of an afterthought.I will continue to tune in to Gyles – well no choice, he is rarely off the TV and radio – but I think that from now on I will be a bit more irritated than usual by his verbal effusions. I feel a bit disillusioned. Perhaps he could write another, more personal, autobiography in which he moves on from splashing around in the shallow end and treats us to the depth that must surely be there.

Great read . Recommend to anyone. Loved it. THANKS GYLES

This started off with Gyles childhood and finished more or less in the present day. He has left quite an interesting and exiting life. I always wondered how he knew so many varied people and the book explained. A good read.

I bought this book as a birthday present for a dear, close friend and I was so pleased when she messaged me to say how much she was enjoying it. I had read good reviews and I know that Gyles Brandreth is an amusing and entertaining writer about his life and acquaintances so I was pleased that I had chosen it.

From the comfort of my couch, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing some of Mr Brandreth’s experiences from childhood on. I was struck by how independent he was at a very young age, how attached to his parents and family he is and what a talented story teller he remains. Probably exhausting to live with, but also exhilarating I expect, and I’m in awe of his energy. And his wife. Loved it.

Ok as an easy read but every other line seemed like a name dropping exercise....albeit all true, it was kind of tough.

My three stars are for the book, not the author. If you are not familiar with Gyles or indeed England culture of the period, the relentless name dropping will floor you. Gyles is who he is and one has to suspect, to some is a rather tiresome individual who never stops talking. What surprises me is that he quotes from his wife that she thinks a lot of what he has written is of no interest. I for one, kind of agree. As a result, pages and pages were skipped because I really have no interest in the minutiae of English boarding school life - been there, done that and got several T-shirts. - or the in depth descriptions of his childhood surroundings. His style of writing is rambling probably because he is never short of something to say. SOME of it is fascinating, some of it is witty, some of it is revealing but even he stops the flow of his thoughts several times with "Now, where was I ?". What surprises me are the quotes from these individuals, some of whom he seems able to resurrect from conversations over fifty years ago. How genuine are they ? There is no doubt that Gyles has packed a great deal into his life, has extraordinary powers of recall and provides huge entertainment - I'd love to have lunch with him - but condensed into a book, his ability to self promote does become a little trying after a while.

I have heard Brandreth speak in person, and I know how amusing and personable he can be, but this book is far from the tidy, neatly-constructed, definitive memoir that I was hoping for. A good editor should have taken Brandreth to task: the book is WAAAY too long, yet it only covers the period from birth through Oxford, with a brief mention of his wedding. The rest of his life (including his children and grandchildren) is only alluded to in passing; in fact, he admits that his wife often twits him for not having evolved since his Oxford days! Of course he throws in the occasional amusing anecdote about royalty and the rich & famous, but these are few and far between. The book gets uncomfortably maudlin toward the end as he realizes that he has attained everything that his poor downtrodden father secretly hankered to attain for himself. Perhaps, like John Cleese, Brandreth is planning to write several more volumes of memoir? If so, few fans will have the patience to read them.