This autobiography was recommended to me by a friend and I listened to it as an audiobook on BorrowBox. Because The Comedy Store and The Young Ones were never on my radar, and I don’t generally read non-fiction, I didn’t expect to like it much, but actually it was a complete surprise. Berserker! is narrated by Adrian Edmondson himself and I found it moving, interesting and amusing. It was quite a revelation and I can’t give it anything less than 5-Stars.
By any assessment, Berserker! shouldn’t have a been a book I’d enjoy. My normal reading fare is crime fiction, which includes everything from police procedurals and classic crime, to rip-roaring adventures and action thrillers. Autobiographies almost never feature on the list, and anyway I didn’t think I’d find Adrian Edmondson amusing or interesting. But my friend was insistent, so I downloaded it to listen to as an audiobook and I’m really glad I did.
This isn’t a straightforward, linear life story. Yes, it starts with Edmondson recalling his childhood and school days, then university and his early career in London, but it turns into something more akin to musings on life, love, family, work, and more. I’d describe it as a rather beguiling hop, skip and jump, backwards and forwards through his life. A memoir with an erratic chronology.
There’s plenty in this to find funny, but there are also some fairly heartbreaking moments as Edmondson recounts his time at English boarding school while his parents and siblings were living in Africa. He’s never self-pitying but it’s disturbing to listen to. And later, even university sounded tricky, when it probably should have been liberating. But once he’s arrived in London and is starting his career things settle down a bit. I enjoyed the early chapters but I enjoyed the second half of the book more, because there’s so much more to Edmondson than I’d ever realised.
Here is a clever, talented, thoughtful and interesting man, who describes himself as an ‘accidental comedian’ but is also an award-winning music video director, author, playwright, broadcaster, actor and accomplished musician. Oh, and let’s not forget he’s also a talented amateur cook who won Celebrity Masterchef in 2013. His musings about the various and different stages of his career are fascinating. Sprinkled with funny anecdotes but overlaid with realism and truth, he talks about fame, his friends and his work.
I found the final section extremely moving. In this he muses on friendship, loss, joy and heartbreak. It’s not solemn or depressing. It’s thought-provoking and illuminating.
I started listening to Berserker! believing I probably wouldn’t finish it, because I wouldn’t find it interesting or be entertained by what he had to say. But I was so wrong! It was a brilliant book that kept me engaged for 10 hours of intermittent listening, and I loved it. This might be a book-off-the-beaten-track for me, but I commend it to you. 5 Stars.
Review by:Cornish Eskimo
What’s in a Star? In our book, 5 Stars = “Outstanding and unforgettable. A book you can’t wait to tell others about.”