SPECTACLES
WORDS EDEN CARTER WOOD
Sue Perkins
MEMOIR
Great news for Sue Perkins fans: she’s written a book and it’s really rather good. Beginning more or less at Sue’s birth, an event succinctly diarised by her mother, we’re taken through a slightly pet-obsessed Croydon childhood and on to Cambridge where Sue met comedy partner Mel Giedroyc in 1988. There follow many tales from the comedy circuit and Sue’s extensive television career to date, along with stories about friends, family, pooches and other relationships along the way. Sue’s clearly a talented writer, but what makes Spectacles special is that, as anyone who watched her recently aired Kolkata programme can confirm, that familiar self-deprecating, pun-loving sense of humour isn’t the only gear she’s got. Spectacles’ many laughs are punctuated with revealing moments of real tenderness and reflection that not only make you feel you’re getting to know the author, but find you occasionally turning your gaze back on your own life and relationships. Great stuff. Read an extract on p50.