Customer Reviews

Small Man in a Book (Unabridged)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a fellow South Walian, I've been a fan of Rob Brydon's for many years. I knew he had a good story to tell, and this doesn't let you down.

Splendidly self-deprecating throughout, Rob writes as he speaks. He keeps up a running commentary on his own narrative throughout which is so exactly him. Very few celebrity writers manage this trick of keeping their own voice- Paul O'Grady is a notable exception. Rob's book is right up there with Paul's and really deserves to do as well.
This also means that the book will no doubt make a wonderful audiobook, if Rob has the time to do it.

The early chapters are also a tribute to the strong, loving support Rob received from his family. Although Rob grew up in a time of recession and his family was affected by this, his parents did their damndest to shield him from worry. Rob had a very indulged childhood - and in one infinitely sad little paragraph, of an event when he was six, he gives an indication why. Normally children who are spoiled aren't very appealing but Rob clearly was.

Like so many others in his field, the one place he shone at school was on stage, and he plays tribute to the teachers who made it so. Wales has a gift for producing inspirational teachers who have produced inspirational actors. Rob, Michael Sheen, Sir Antony Hopkins and Sir Richard Burton have all come from a tiny area, geographically. All had mentors who made them so.

Much of Rob's recall of his student days is probably helped by the fact that he was teetotal. Most celebrity autobiographies contain periods when the writer was too busy going out and having a good time to recall much - not Rob's.

Rob's gradual rise as a voice-over artist and frustrated actor-comedian is wonderfully described... You read on, hoping the break comes soon, but this also outlines the gradual emergence of the character who would make that break, the exiled Cardiffian taxi-driver, Keith Barret. (And an explanation of why it's Barret and not Barrett.)

A special mention must go to the photographs throughout the book - the captions are absolutely brilliant. Most of us have a dodgy childhood pic taken with Santa. Most comedians include one in their biographies. Rob has three dodgy Santas.. and one rather handsome one.

An absolute must buy if you love a great, rewarding, warm and funny celebrity read. Five stars plus.

Has to rate as one of the most hilarious books I've ever read, up there with Dunthorne's 'Submarine' - clearly, there's something very funny in the water in Swansea. I rarely laugh out loud, but this had me giggling away and smiling manically through the miserable morning commute and a book I really looked forward to getting back to every day. An absolute pleasure from cover to cover - and I can't wait for the audio version with the clips from his early days. Rob Brydon comes across as honest, good-natured, loveable and, of course, incredibly funny. I'm not normally a fan of autobiography, but I can't praise this highly enough: it's endearing, entertaining and highly enjoyable, I've recommended it to almost everyone I've spoken to this week and I would encourage anyone looking for something to brighten up their day as the cold weather kicks in to give this a go. I've genuinely loved every minute of it.

I'm a massive fan of all of the things Rob Brydon has been in, probably the Trip and Human Remains most of all, so I knew this would be a funny book. I hadn't anticipated that it would make me laugh as much as it did though - nor that it would be as well written as it is. You can totally hear his voice coming off the pages, and there are parts of it which will really stick with me - lots of very well told funny stories. The photo sections are hilarious and it's really entertaining to read about some of the things he did before making it famous - the bits about his voicever work are comedy gold. You don't expect someone in 'showbiz' to be so candid about the grit and hard work of getting in to it... Loved it and would wholeheartedly recommend it...

It's not often that a book makes you laugh out loud, but Rob Brydon's 'Small Man in a Book' made me do exactly that. Rob talks about his difficult ascent to fame and his unlucky love-life as a teen in a strikingly honest memoir that is peppered with hilarious anecdotes throughout.

Loosely translated as "I wet myself"...

Extremely funny and honet writing from a surprisingly-smart chap. Certainly easy to see how he has such an excellent repartee with Steve Coogan.

Particulary enjoyed hearing about his somewhat-humble beginnings as 3rd villager in the Richard Gere romp, "First Knight"...not sure I'll be wanting to see that after his performance though! Rather temted to buy the enhanced audiobook, having seen what the content entails, but I think that might make me a full-blown obsessive...

I agree with the many positive comments about this biography. It is far less shallow and styled than many 'celebrity' memoirs. The author tells an interesting story about his rather unusual rise from a quite comfortable background, up through well renumerated but limiting voiceover work and stints in local radio, to his belated but well-deserved breakthrough as a performer in his own right on TV in some gems as Marion & geoff and Gavin & Stacey. Honest, self-effecing and bright, he comes across as a nice man, and the book is one of the most satisfying I've read in this area for quite a while.

Got this book as a gift - I didn't know much about Rob Brydon but I always liked him in Gavin and Stacey. I really enjoyed reading his story/life. If you are looking to be entertained then you will not be disapointed by his book.

Being a big fan of Rob's work, I was looking forward to reading this book but having done so couldn't help but feel let down by it. It was, I'm sorry to say, a bit of a dull read and I persevered to the end only because I hoped that it would get better. Sadly, it didn't, and 334 pages later I hadn't discovered much that was in any way memorable. Rob is a talented man who has worked hard and done well as a result of it, but sadly that in itself doesn't make his story an interesting read.

this book was so refreshing because it has a real honesty about it. rob's character comes shining through in every chapter. he looks back at the not so great times in a philosophical way, without spite or anger, and makes us laugh with him and be happy for the good times. we could all learn from this wonderful man's positive attitude to life.

After reading the reviews on Amazon and hearing an interview with Chris Evans on Radio 2 I was looking forward to reading this however that all went a bit awry during the course of actually reading the book and initially I wondered if I had downloaded the wrong one. It's not that bad but not that good either, there is a build up from school through university to some lackluster tales of acting and voice over work and then bang, he's famous and the book is pretty much over. I am not sure what I expected and to be fair to Rob Brydon he doesn't allude to being an agent for the Welsh Secret Service but therein lies the problem, the book really isn't that interesting. He really has done nothing more than be in the right place at the right time and happen to know Steve Coogan and meet Henry Normal. I wouldn't say don't buy it but there probably isn't anything in here you cant find out from a Google search. I suspect its just another Christmas money spinner for Brydon and Penguin Books.