From "one of the funniest writers in Britain--wise, clever, hilarious, and a national treasure" (Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones's Diary) comes this delightful book of "101 ingeniously linked encounters between the famous and the infamous" [The Observer (London) Best Books of the Year]. Hello Goodbye Hello is a daisy chain of 101 fascinating true encounters, a book that has been hailed by reviewers in London as "howlingly funny" (The Spectator), "original and a complete delight" (The Sunday Times), and "rich and hugely enjoyable" (The Guardian). Or, as the London Evening Standard put it, "the truth and nothing but the plain, bonkers, howling truth . . . It is partly a huge karmic parlour game, partly a dance to the music of chaos--and only the genius of Craig Brown could have produced it." Who could imagine such unlikely--but true-- encounters as these:
Martha Graham meets Madonna
Igor Stravinsky meets Walt Disney
Frank Lloyd Wright meets Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe meets Nikita Khrushchev
President Richard Nixon meets Elvis Presley
Harpo Marx meets George Bernard Shaw
Cecil Beaton meets Mick Jagger
Salvador Dali meets Sigmund Freud
Groucho Marx meets T.S. Eliot
Brilliant in conception, Hello Goodbye Hello shows how the celebrated and gifted--like the rest of us-- got along famously or disastrously or indifferently with one another, but, thanks to Craig Brown, always to our amusement and entertainment.
From an opening story in which Adolf Hitler survives being knocked down by a careless English driver in 1931 to the Duchess of Windsor's meeting with the Führer over tea, and 99 others in between, Hello Goodbye Hello is the perfect example that truth is stranger than fiction (and infinitely more enjoyable).
About the Author :
Craig Brown writes the Private Eye celebrity diary as well as a twice-weekly column for the Daily Mail (London) and reviews books for Mail on Sunday. He was the host of This Is Craig Brown on BBC Radio 4. Mr. Brown lives in London.
Review :
"Captivating. . . . A glittering daisy chain that reads like a mathematical proof of the theory of six degrees of separation. . . . Mr. Brown constructs portraits that have all the immediacy of reportage, all the fanciful detail of fiction. He has whipped up a gratifying summertime confection -- funny, diverting, occasionally sad."
--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"Captivating...Glittering...Engaging...Entertaining...[Brown] has whipped up a gratifying summertime confection -- funny, diverting, occasionally sad."
--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
"Deliciously clever and amusing...Hello Goodbye Hello is splendid company, not to mention perfect for the beach, the lake or the pool."
--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
"Hello Goodbye Hello is a hilarious book, clever and thoroughly researched...dip into this book anywhere and you will be rewarded with something delightful."
--Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal "Brown's collection of odd encounters could be titled Famous People Behaving Badly. They're irresistible."
--People Magazine
"[Brown] provides a rollicking glimpse into the wild, weird, and wacky world of the renowned and reviled. Irresistibly fun and informative."
--Booklist
"A delightful page turner, informed throughout with wit and learning."
--Toby Clements, The Daily Telegraph
"A hilarious collection of strange-but-true tales of encounters between the rich and famous. . . . Brown is as smart as he is puckish, and there are plenty of laughs on this terrific trip through modern fame."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Cheekily inspired. . . . Might be the ultimate pocket guide to the modern history of noteworthy meet-ups."
--Elle
"Craig Brown is something of a national treasure in Britain. . . . Hello Goodbye Hello is a bravura feat of narrative engineering. . . . A joyful, fun read espsecially for its widgety, ingenious construction."
--David Kamp, Vanity Fair
"Craig Brown is the wittiest writer in Britain today."
--Stephen Fry
"Deliciously clever. . . . [101] improbable encounters, many of them exceedingly funny, a few of them surprisingly revealing and a few rather sad, and all of them connected by the daisy chain to end all daisy chains. . . . Hello Goodbye Hello is splendid company, not to mention perfect for the beach, the lake, or the pool."
--Jonathan Yardley, the Washington Post
"Much of this tragic-farcical Dance to the Music of Time is wistful and moving, as well as howlingly funny."
--A.N. Wilson, The Spectator
"The book that made me laugh most was Craig Brown's quirky game of biographical consequences."
--Julian Barnes, Times Literary Supplement "Books of the Year"
