About the Book
Discover the woman behind the spectacles in the hilarious, incredibly moving memoir from much loved comedian, writer and presenter Sue Perkins, star of Mel & Sue and The Great British Bake Off
'Very funny. Reading her memoir is very like meeting her' Sunday Times
'Tight & bright & full of inspiration' Chris Evans, Radio 2
When I began writing this book, I went home to see if my mum had kept some of my stuff. What I found was that she hadn't kept some of it. She had kept all of it - every bus ticket, postcard, school report - from the moment I was born to the moment I finally had the confidence to turn round and say 'Why is our house full of this shit?'
Sadly, a recycling 'incident' destroyed the bulk of this archive.
This has meant two things: firstly, Dear Reader, you will never get to see countless drawings of wizards, read a poem about corn on the cob, or marvel at the kilos of brown flowers I so lovingly pressed as a child. Secondly, it's left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself.
This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as 'Is Mary Berry real?', 'Is it true you wear a surgical truss?' and 'Is a non-spherically symmetric gravitational pull from outside the observable universe responsible for some of the observed motion of large objects such as galactic clusters in the universe?'
Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me.
Thank you for reading.
Praise for Spectacles
'Drama, tears and laughs - Spectacles has got it all. A brilliant, touching memoir suffused with love, it reminds you that life is best lived at wonky angles. I ADORED it' Jessie Burton, bestselling author of The Miniaturist
'It's a proper book . . . so well written. Tight & bright & full of inspiration' Chris Evans, Radio 2
'Very funny . . . It seems there are two Sue Perkins: the TV one, who gabbles and pratfalls, and the sensitive one who aches. The first of course, exists to protect the second. They can both write. The first writes comedy, the second tragedy; in this sense, reading her memoir is very like meeting her' Sunday Times
About the Author :
Sue Perkins is perhaps best known for being one half of double act Mel and Sue, where she plays the part of Mel. Together, the pair have bounced, shouted and gurned their way through countless hours of television, most memorably Light Lunch and its later counterpart, the imaginatively titled Late Lunch.
Over the years, Sue has worked on a wide range of solo projects, including documentaries on art, popular fiction and history. In 2008 she appeared on the BBC show Maestro, culminating in her conducting at the Last Night of the Proms. She has also collaborated with food-critic Giles Coren on the Supersizers series, where the duo power-ate their way through five centuries of lungs, livers and testicles whilst half-cut on sherry.
Sue hosts the panel show, Insert Name Here, as well as being a regular contributor to Just A Minute, QI and The Last Leg. She is also the presenter of the Game of Thrones companion show, Thronecast.
East of Croydon is Sue's second book. Her first, Spectacles, was a Sunday Times bestseller.
Oh, and she used to do a cake show on BBC1
@sueperkins
Review :
Drama, tears and laughs - Spectacles has got it all. A brilliant, touching memoir suffused with love, it reminds you that life is best lived at wonky angles. I ADORED it
Very funny . . . It seems there are two Sue Perkins: the TV one, who gabbles and pratfalls, and the sensitive one who aches. The first of course, exists to protect the second. They can both write. The first writes comedy, the second tragedy; in this sense, reading her memoir is very like meeting her
It's a proper book . . . so well written. Tight & bright & full of inspiration
Utterly wonderful. It's very, very funny and poignant and it's very Sue Perkins and that's the bliss of it
Relentlessly cheering, Spectacles is as charming and funny as Perkins herself. Like going for a long, slightly drunken lunch with your naughtiest friend
Brilliantly written... fearlessly honest and full of heart, it will also make you laugh like a gibbon
I absolutely loved it . . . whip smart and very funny
Life, love and loss - it's all here ... Warm, crisp and beautifully layered - like its author,Spectacles is a complete delight
[A] deftly written and belly-laugh funny autobiography . . . Though she never suggests she might be remotely brainy, she clearly is. Her vocabulary makes Will Self's seem lacking, her writing is full of discreetly clever allusions . . . If she wants her readers to like her, she certainly achieved it with this reviewer who laughed and cried and secretly wants her as a best friend
Sue's memoir will leave you feeling like you've made a new best friend. Introducing us to a cast of friends, family and love interests, and not forgetting a psychopathic nun, Sue picks apart life in a refreshingly honest, warm and downright hilarious way... Spectacles firmly cements her as an exciting writer of the future
